greece sovereign debt was downgraded last month after its public deficit rose
to percent of total output in far above the percent ceiling
permitted to countries that use the euro
greek debt was estimated at percent of output meanwhile and will likely
climb to more than double the eu limit of percent
although the nation eurozone has emerged from recession it is still
patchwork quilt fraying at the seams after the financial crisis exacerbated
fiscal disparities among its members
in addition to greece the sovereign debts of ireland portugal and spain have
also been downgraded by ratings agencies in recent months
red lights would really start to flash if major economy like italy which has
debt that exceeds percent of gross domestic product gdp called for help
after others were thrown financial lifelines
the situation is such that deutsche bank economist mark wall expected trichet to
be asked whether and under what conditions greece could be put under pressure
to voluntarily choose to exit the eurozone
an ecb paper published last month concluded there was little chance of member
leaving or being forced out but the fact the bank produced such document at
all raised eyebrows in financial markets
greek officials pledged to present friday blueprint for resolving its crisis
with finance minister george papaconstantinou calling it roadmap to reverse
the huge credibility gap greece faces in the financial markets
polleit told afp unsound public finances are not natural catastrophe they
are the result of political decisions that gives hope that governments are
going to take action
he added however that if people become convinced that this is not the case
this could be serious
football bayern eye bundesliga top spot
berlin jan afp
hosts bayern munich are hoping home win over hoffenheim on friday night will
put them top of the bundesliga more than months after they last led the
german league
bayern have been crowned german champions times but may was the last
time they sat on top of the bundeliga with louis van gaal side currently third
in the table and two points behind leaders leverkusen
their main rivals leverkusen are at mid table mainz on saturday while second
placed schalke are also at home against second from bottom strugglers nuremberg
but whatever the results in the rest of the league bayern know they need an
impressive win over hoffenheim at munich allianz arena to underline their
credentials as title contenders
we want to send clear signal to the rest of the league said goalkeeper
hans joerg butt
starting the new year with victory would be no bad thing
french star franck ribery is not expected back from foot injury until the
league clash with bremen on saturday january but dutch flier arjen robben
will face hoffenheim
bayern warmed up for their first game after the bundesliga winter break with
win over swiss side basel on tuesday in friendly
with league games against hoffenheim bremen mainz and defending champions
wolfsburg to start the year bayern have their work cut out but midfielder
bastian schweinsteiger says the team are aiming for maximum points
it would obviously be fantastic to take points from those games he said
strikers mario gomez and ivica olic will start for bayern with germany star
miroslav klose on the bench
hoffenheim are seventh in the table and will be missing chinedu obasi and isaac
vorsah on african cup of nations duty as well as luiz gustavo due to his red
card in the game against stuttgart
tobias weis matthias jaissle and prince tagoe are also out with injuries
bayern are the biggest side in germany it always big challenge to get
points in munich said hoffenheim defender andreas beck
leverkusen are the only bundesliga side still undefeated and they will have
germany striker patrick helmes on the bench having recovered from his cruciate
knee injury
schalke game against nuremberg on sunday will go ahead despite large hole
appearing in the roof of the veltins arena in gelsenkirchen
the royal blues made their third signing of the winter break on tuesday when
they recruited german defender tim hoogland from mainz
hoogland joins german midfielder alexander baumjohann who signed from bayern
munich having played just three times for the german giants since joining six
months ago and brazilian striker edu from korean side suwon blue wings
friday
bayern munich hoffenheim
saturday
hanover hertha berlin
eintracht frankfurt werder bremen
borussia gladbach vfl bochum
hamburg freiburg
bayer leverkusen mainz
vfb stuttgart vfl wolfsburg
sunday
schalke nuremberg
cologne borussia dortmund
nature for oil plan in ecuador in jeopardy
quito jan afp
plan to leave major oil reserves in ecuador amazon basin untouched in return
for major international donation was in jeopardy thursday after foreign
minister fander falconi resigned
falconi spearheaded the billion dollar initiative until president rafael
correa on saturday called the payment conditions he was negotiating with the
united nations outrageous
correa even threatened to start drilling for oil in june at the itt camp in
yasuni national park unless conditions changed
last month the president said the nature for oil plan would be called off in
june instead of at the end of this year if ecuador did not get the promised
funds half the value of the million barrels of oil the itt camp is
estimated to hold
we will not submit let them know that this country is nobody colony we
won accept shameful conditions keep your money correa said late tuesday
after falconi resigned
correa however made it clear negotiations had not failed
falconi said wednesday the six month deadline for the initiative was tantamount
to killing it but predicted the clauses stipulating payment conditions would be
signed in two weeks
he also cited pressure to begin drilling for oil
can give you any names he said but mentioned that in state run
petroecuador had unit ready to exploit the camp for few years
the countries behind the money offer in the nature for oil deal were not
involved in the negotiations between ecuador and the united nations development
program undp falconi said
they re not demanding that the conditions be this way or that way that really
would be outrageous he added
roque sevilla who headed the technical commission behind the plan that resigned
en masse along with falconi told afp that between and billion dollars
have been pledged so far with germany million and spain million
leading the pack that included france sweden and switzerland
sevilla also said the conservation projects the donations are intended to
support have been sovereignly chosen by ecuador
the former official also confirmed petroecuador interest in seeing the deal
fall through
petroecuador feels very uncomfortable about losing percent of ecuador oil
reserves under the deal he said adding that the company has plans to pump the
oil from the itt camp to new refinery it will start building with venezuela on
the coast in june
sevilla was quick to note that caracas had no part in the deal under discussion
and that extracting oil from the untouched reserves would take few years at
best
correa came up with the initiative in and plans to use it as leverage in
global warming deals such as the carbon emission quotas included in the kyoto
protocol
the president says that by preserving the yasuni national park home to several
nomadic indian tribes ecuador will spare the earth some million metric tons
of carbon dioxide co emissions that contribute to global warming
football angolan customs put spanner in works of opening ceremony
luanda jan afp
the opening ceremony at the africa cup of nations was an impressive affair last
sunday but angolan customs almost ensured it didn take place
the ceremony had as its focal point stunning square metre two sided white
canvas screen which rose metres high from the pitch at the november
stadium
it had been despatched by cargo plane from germany in early december but was
held by customs on arrival in luanda for three weeks leaving precious little
time for organisers to carry out pre ceremony rehearsels
one of the austrian contractors who wished to remain anonymous told afp on
thursday mounting giant screen like this has never been done before and
normally we needed at least fortnight to carry out tests
but all our equipment was held by customs for three weeks they only released
it on january three days before last sunday ceremony
it almost didn happen but we worked hours day and thank god everything
went off okay in the end
we have no idea why customs in luanda refused to release it
maradona earrings raise euros for italian taxman
bolzano italy jan afp
pair of diamond earrings seized from football star diego maradona raised
euros dollars at auction on thursday when they were sold by the
italian tax authorities
italy financial police took the gold earrings when maradona visited weight
loss clinic in september as part of their efforts to recover huge tax debts
from the argentine
the winning bid more than tripled the pre sale estimate of euros but will
still not make significant dent in the million euros maradona owes the
italian taxman
around people took part in the auction in the northeastern town of bolzano
the winning bid coming from woman who did not want to give her name or say why
she was bidding
maradona debts stem from his days playing in italy for napoli based in the
southern town of naples from
the world cup winner had key role in the side success but failed to pay
tax on his earnings and in court ruled he owed million euros
an italian taxpayer association www contribuenti it estimates that
maradona debt has accrued further million euros in interest
year after the court ruling in the tax authorities managed to scrape
euros off the bill when they seized two expensive watches the argentine
was wearing while visiting naples for charity match
maradona is now coach of argentina national team which he led through tense
qualification for the world cup finals in south africa this summer
race to find survivors in ruined haiti
port au prince jan afp
rescuers raced against the clock thursday to find earthquake survivors among
thousands of corpses in haiti as planeloads of international aid began arriving
in the ruined nation
amid mounting desperation over shortages of medicines and food and with
officials warning the overall death toll may top many people who
escaped with their lives spent second night on the streets
schools hospitals hotels ministries and the presidential palace lay in ruins
and people caked in blood and dust pleaded for help as they lay trapped beneath
mountains of concrete in port au prince
reflecting the grim mood in the impoverished city of two million totally
unprepared to cope with tragedy of this magnitude preacher warned in creole
about the end of the world
jeanwell antoine held trapped baby arm and sought to comfort it as he clawed
through the rubble and debris left behind by tuesday quake
it is not me who is pushing back this earth it is the hand of god who loves
life and is guiding me so can save this baby he said
with every hour crucial international rescue teams began arriving with heavy
lifting gear sniffer dogs and desperately needed medicines food and water
the priority is to find survivors said elisabeth byrs spokeswoman for the
un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs
we are working against the clock
casualty figures were impossible to calculate but prime minister jean max
bellerive said the final death toll from the magnitude quake could be well
over
president rene preval whose home and official palace were destroyed said
could be dead
us secretary of state hillary clinton who canceled an asia trip and returned to
washington said the death toll would reach tens of thousands and warned of an
unimaginable disaster in country which is already the poorest in the western
hemisphere
teams of civilian and military experts arrived the airport which was operating
even though the control tower collapsed
canada france germany the netherlands russia and spain all offered teams
australia britain and japan were among the countries who made multi million
dollar aid pleges
other rescuers headed to the impoverished nation by sea
the uss carl vinson aircraft carrier was to arrive thursday with destroyers and
more coast guard ships en route and troops on stand by
have directed my administration to respond with swift coordinated and
aggressive effort to save lives us president barack obama said
the red cross launched million dollar appeal the world food programme
offered tonnes of food and the world bank said it would provide an extra
million dollars in aid
in tokyo haiti charge affaires jean claude bordes mourned for city he
learned had been totally destroyed
the conversations had by phone were not too long just heard screams our
country is destroyed we have nothing left it god will we have to accept
it he told reporters
with thousands of people missing dazed survivors in torn clothes wandered
through the rubble as aftershocks rocked port au prince
injured survivors were carried on makeshift stretchers past piles of smashed
concrete from which crushed bodies protruded
the earthquake was the latest tragedy to hammer haiti which has been scarred by
years of unrest crime political tumult and natural disaster
former us president bill clinton united nations special envoy to haiti
warned of an unprecedented humanitarian disaster
early estimates indicate that nearly three million people almost third of
haiti population may need aid making this one of the great humanitarian
emergencies in the history of the americas clinton said in the washington
post
un spokeswoman said that more than of its expatriate staff members are
still missing including the head of the mission hedi annabi
brazil said of its peacekeepers were killed jordan reported that three of
its peacekeepers died while eight chinese soldiers were buried in rubble and
were missing state media said
medecins sans frontieres doctors without borders set up tent clinics in the
city to treat the thousands of wounded
there are hundreds of thousands of people who are sleeping in the streets
because they are homeless msf coordinator hans van dillen said
we see open fractures head injuries the problem is that we can not forward
people to proper surgery at this stage
the quake turned thousands of buildings into rubble among them was the un
mission headquarters and major hotel where tourists were missing
nature for oil plan in ecuador in jeopardy
washington jan afp
plan to leave major oil reserves in ecuador amazon basin untouched in return
for major international donation was in jeopardy thursday after foreign
minister fander falconi resigned
falconi spearheaded the billion dollar initiative until president rafael
correa on saturday called the payment conditions he was negotiating with the
united nations outrageous
correa even threatened to start drilling for oil in june at the itt camp in
yasuni national park unless conditions changed
last month the president said the nature for oil plan would be called off in
june instead of at the end of this year if ecuador did not get the promised
funds half the value of the million barrels of oil the itt camp is
estimated to hold
we will not submit let them know that this country is nobody colony we
won accept shameful conditions keep your money correa said late tuesday
after falconi resigned
correa however made it clear negotiations had not failed
falconi said wednesday the six month deadline for the initiative was tantamount
to killing it but predicted the clauses stipulating payment conditions would be
signed in two weeks
he also cited pressure to begin drilling for oil
can give you any names he said but mentioned that in state run
petroecuador had unit ready to exploit the camp for few years
the countries behind the money offer in the nature for oil deal were not
involved in the negotiations between ecuador and the united nations development
program undp falconi said
they re not demanding that the conditions be this way or that way that really
would be outrageous he added
roque sevilla who headed the technical commission behind the plan that resigned
en masse along with falconi told afp that between and billion dollars
have been pledged so far with germany million and spain million
leading the pack that included france sweden and switzerland
sevilla also said the conservation projects the donations are intended to
support have been sovereignly chosen by ecuador
the former official also confirmed petroecuador interest in seeing the deal
fall through
petroecuador feels very uncomfortable about losing percent of ecuador oil
reserves under the deal he said adding that the company has plans to pump the
oil from the itt camp to new refinery it will start building with venezuela on
the coast in june
sevilla was quick to note that caracas had no part in the deal under discussion
and that extracting oil from the untouched reserves would take few years at
best
correa came up with the initiative in and plans to use it as leverage in
global warming deals such as the carbon emission quotas included in the kyoto
protocol
the president says that by preserving the yasuni national park home to several
nomadic indian tribes ecuador will spare the earth some million metric tons
of carbon dioxide co emissions that contribute to global warming
roman catholics plead for middle east peace
jerusalem jan afp
roman catholic bishops gathered in jerusalem on thursday pleaded for just
resolution of the middle east conflict with palestinians getting viable own
state and israel enjoying security
for us this is not merely about politics it is an issue of basic human
rights the holy land co ordination made up of bishops from europe and north
america said in statement
they urged the faithful to support public officials who take courageous
initiatives for just resolution of the conflict two state solution with
security and recognition for israel and viable and independent state for
palestinians
but the statement signed by bishops painted grim picture of the current
situation in the conflictive region
eight months after pope benedict xvi made an impassioned plea for the creation
of sovereign palestinian homeland two state solution does not seem any
closer they said
there is growing distance between israelis and palestinians the statement
said
violence insecurity home demolitions permit and visa problems the route of
the wall expropriation of lands and other policies threaten both two state
solution and the christian presence
yet despite the wounds of this land love and hope are alive they said
adding that peace with justice is within reach
formula one ferrari for life says alonso
rome jan afp
former world champion fernando alonso has vowed to stay at ferrari until the end
of of his career
the spaniard will race for the famous old italian team this season after two
inglorious seasons back at renault with whom he won the and world
titles before short lived and turbulent stay at mclaren
but after two years of scrapping for minor points finishes alonso wants to see
out his career with ferrari
this will be percent my last team arriving here much better prepared
than when arrived at renault he said
ready for this huge challenge ferrari is known the world over and we have
to win
alonso was speaking at ferrari pre season press ski ing event at madonna di
campiglio
and he admitted he is looking forward to locking horns with old rival michael
schumacher once again the german having joined mercedes for the new season
winning seven titles would be difficult if not impossible in today formula
one said the year old
if he been given this opportunity and has taken the decision to race again
it because he ready
happy about it it good thing for formula one schumi return can
bring only good things
and like all new ferrari drivers alonso claimed he would be realising dream
when the new season begins
driving ferrari was my dream since was child and now it come true he
added
it great to be in this team because there family feeling which you don
find elsewhere
and finally alonso joked about his rivalry with new brazilian team mate felipe
massa claiming it would extend beyond the racetrack and onto the football
field
brazil and spain are the favourites for the world cup in south africa in june
would prefer spain to win their first world cup or for me to win the world
title with ferrari let me think about that joked alonso
there no problem between massa and me because we can meet in the final
think if we both get through the group stages then we ll meet in the quarters
or semis and so sorry for felipe because it will be over
cricket england crash to south african pace
johannesburg jan afp
south africa fast bowlers took advantage of helpful conditions as england
crashed to all out on the first day of the fourth and final test at the
wanderers stadium on thursday
dale steyn took five for and morne morkel three for after england captain
andrew strauss won the toss and decided to bat
england troubles started with the first ball of the match when strauss was
caught at backward short leg off steyn
the tourists leading the series lost their first four wickets for runs
inside the first hour
paul collingwood and ian bell put on for the fifth wicket but when
collingwood provided first test wicket for ryan mclaren soon after lunch the
slide resumed and england were bowled out shortly before tea
strauss chose to bat first in conditions which offered swing and seam movement
he turned lifting delivery on leg stump firmly behind square leg but hashim
amla dived to his right to hold an excellent catch
morkel followed up in the second over when jonathan trott played across full
delivery and was out leg before wicket
kevin pietersen run of poor scores continued when he pulled morkel straight to
new cap wayne parnell at mid on after making seven
alastair cook went back on his stumps and was second leg before victim he
asked for review but umpire tony hill decision was upheld
collingwood looked in good form before he was squared up by new cap mclaren and
caught at point off leading edge
steyn bowled bell with delivery which cut back between bat and pad after
series of away swingers and england resistance was effectively broken
although graeme swann made breezy off balls before he was the last man
out
england surprisingly left out fast bowler graham onions bringing in left arm
swing bowler ryan sidebottom
onions was one of england most impressive bowlers in the first three tests
despite taking only eight wickets at an average of and as number eleven
batsman twice played out the last over to secure draw for his team in the
first and third tests
world scrambles rescue teams to quake hit haiti
washington jan afp
rescue teams doctors and soldiers rushed by land sea and air thursday to bring
life saving food and medicines to the survivors of haiti devastating
earthquake
from all corners of the world vast relief operation swung into top gear as
hundreds of thousands of homeless injured and traumatized spent second night
on the corpse strewn streets and sidewalks of port au prince
planes began arriving at the capital still functioning airport bringing
surgeons field hospitals water and emergency medical supplies while search
and rescue teams with sniffer dogs readied to pick through the debris
governments and aid organisations unlocked millions of dollars and launched
appeals for more to aid survivors and help reconstruct ruined homes schools and
hospitals in help one of the world poorest nations
haiti prime minister said tuesday magnitude quake which flattened port
au prince may have killed more than people
planeloads of rescue teams and relief supplies were quickly dispatched from
countries including britain canada france germany italy the netherlands
russia and spain
as wealthy neighbor with the world most powerful military the united states
was well placed to lead the effort mobilizing an array of specialists ships
planes and helicopters
have directed my administration to respond with swift coordinated and
aggressive effort to save lives obama said
secretary of state hillary clinton returned from trip to help coordinate the
us operation with forward teams of civilian and military experts already
landing at the scene
more rescuers and equipment were on their way by sea and overland from the
neighbouring dominican republic
the uss carl vinson aircraft carrier was set to arrive later thursday with
destroyers and more coast guard ships and troops were on stand by
former us president bill clinton now un special envoy in haiti appealed for
funds saying even dollar or two would help alleviate one of the great
humanitarian emergencies in the history of the americas
what haiti needs most is money for water food shelter and basic medical
supplies to bring immediate relief to those who are homeless hungry and hurt
he wrote in commentary for the washington post
the red cross launched million dollar appeal for donations the world food
programme offered tonnes of food and the world bank vowed an extra
million dollars in aid
we are entering critical period there must be massive humanitarian aid
arriving this evening said olivier bernard president of the medical relief
agency organisation medecins du monde
he told afp to save lives surgery must be available ideally within the first
hours
british flight carrying some officials and rescue specialists arrived in
the dominican republic en route to haiti they were accompanied by sniffer dogs
and tonnes of equipment
international development minister douglas alexander said london would put up
nearly million dollars
he told bbc radio the most basic needs the need for shelter the need for
water the need for medicine and the need for food are going to emerge we
sense on an immense scale in the hours days and weeks ahead
the international red cross said that it was sending tonnes of medical
supplies while the international organisation for migration called for tents
tents and more tents to shelter the homeless
chinese aircraft brining relief workers and tonnes of aid has reached
haiti state news agency xinhua reported while the chinese red cross society is
donating one million dollars in supplies
israel said it was sending two planes with field hospital and around
emergency personnel
cuba which felt the quake sent doctors to join staff already in haiti
brazil said it was providing million dollars in immediate aid while peru
venezuela mexico colombia guatamala and chile also promised help
canada readied two warships helicopters and planes with supplies as well as
large relief and rescue force
from the asia pacific region australia pledged nine million dollars while
taiwan whose ambassador to haiti was hurt south korea and new zealand also
offered aid
japan well used to quakes pledged five million dollars and offered tents and
rescuers
the world health organization is deploying specialists to help handle mass
casualties and corpses warning of the danger of communicable diseases
cardinal oscar rodriguez maradiaga head of the catholic charity caritas said
he hoped the global attention and aid being focused on haiti would help provide
lasting solutions to the country myriad problems
clinton haiti death toll will reach tens of thousands
washington jan afp
the death toll from haiti catastrophic earthquake will reach tens of
thousands of people us secretary of state hillary clinton said thursday as she
warned of an unimaginable disaster in the country
we know it going to be in the tens of thousands she told msnbc as she took
to the airwaves to outline us search and rescue operations there
haiti has been devastated by this earthquake the chief us diplomat said on
fox news it is beyond our comprehension
early casualty figures were impossible to calculate with apparently no central
haitian authority taking control of disaster operations but prime minister
jean max bellerive told cnn the final death toll from the quake could be
well over
president rene preval told the network could be dead
clinton stressed that with haiti government not able to function in the
midst of the disaster with the destruction of ministries and the presidential
palace and scores of government personnel missing the united states was taking
lead role in helping organize and coordinate aid distribution
the top us diplomat said washington had dispatched 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 with hundreds of beds and team
of doctors and medical supplies was also readying to sail from the us east
coast to haiti
the next hours is critical to save those lives that can be saved we know
that from other earthquakes and other disasters clinton told cnn
but then we have long way back to try to deal with the devastation of the
