the seven partner countries involved in the multi billion euro dollar airbus
plane project met in london on thursday amid doubts about the future of
the delayed and over budget programme
france has vowed to do everything to save the airbus military transport
aircraft project but germany appears reluctant to invest more cash and britain
said that it remains committed but not at any cost
turkey has already refused to plough more money into the programme which is
three years behind schedule and is estimated to need up to billion euros
billion pounds billion dollars more to be completed
belgium luxembourg and spain are the three other countries in the project and
took part in the meeting at the british ministry of defence
the meeting ended late thursday and defence ministry spokesman declined to
comment on the discussions
european aircraft maker airbus and its parent group the european aeronautic
defence and space company eads were not invited to the talks
airbus has said it could pull the plug on the project unless it gets extra money
pledges by the end of the month warning that the failure of the programme
could hurt the viability of the company as whole
airbus has employees around europe with some working on the
transporter that can carry troops armoured vehicles and helicopters
the seven client nations have ordered total of aircraft for some
billion euros billion dollars
french defence minister herve morin told rfi radio on thursday that paris was
ready to share the burden of the extra costs
not bothered by the fact that we would have to pay part of the cost
overruns because believe this is magnificent programme morin said
we must still negotiate and these additional costs have to be shared between
the countries and the manufacturer he added
morin is hoping for cost sharing agreement before the end of january and ahead
of nato defence ministers meeting in istanbul on february and
but germany has shown little appetite to shell out more money
we are striving to find solution in accordance with the signed contract and
we will not be rushed german government spokesman ulrich wilhelm told press
conference on wednesday
britain defence ministry said on tuesday that it remains committed to the
project but not at any cost
we regard the ongoing negotiations as the best means by which to determine
more deliverable programme ministry spokesman said at the time
germany and france are the project biggest customers with and orders
respectively which means berlin position will be crucial
key to moving forward from here is germany not britain said howard
wheeldon senior strategist at brokerage firm bgc partners
guess that germany will be put under degree of pressure today but nothing
will emerge until they get back home and report back to german chancellor angela
merkel
overall still expect deal on price and quantity to emerge over the
next days or so
the heads of airbus and eads ramped up pressure on the governments this week to
pledge more money for the programme by the end of january warning that the
future of the company depended on it
eads chief executive louis gallois also expressed disappointment that thursday
meeting did not include the plane maker
now it high time for decision airbus chief executive tom enders said on
tuesday adding that the viability of airbus as whole was at stake
tokyo stocks open higher
tokyo jan afp
japanese share prices opened higher friday with the benchmark nikkei index
rising points or percent to in the first minute of
trading
london threatened by bankers bonus tax mayor
london jan afp
britain new tax on bankers bonuses threatens london position as global
financial centre and could trigger an exodus of high earners overseas the
city mayor warned friday
the bonus tax combined with an increase in income tax for top earners had
damaged perceptions of the british capital wrote mayor boris johnson in
letter to britain finance minister
you have made unilateral changes to taxation that risk damaging london
competitiveness and its status alongside new york as the world leading
financial services centre said the letter to alistair darling
the mayor said london would become less attractive destination for the globe
trotting highly skilled business men and women who can contribute greatly to
our economy
the government is doing nothing more than fast tracking the departure of this
talent pool out of britain and into the welcoming arms of our competitors such
as new york and singapore johnson added
the angry outburst followed darling announcement last month of percent
tax rate on bank employee bonuses above pounds euros
dollars to recoup cash spent rescuing the financial sector
the one off levy targeted the high earning british bankers whose excessive risk
taking has been blamed for fuelling the global financial crisis and sparking
worldwide recession
johnson attack also came day after us president barack obama proposed fee
to raise billion dollars in years from top banks to recoup every single
dime of wall street bailout
the british government bonus tax is viewed as potential vote winner for
prime minister gordon brown labour government which is behind the opposition
conservatives in the polls ahead of elections to be held this year
johnson is member of the conservatives
us boosts airline security amid al qaeda threat
washington jan afp
the united states on thursday said it would step up airport security measures in
response to renewed threats from al qaeda in yemen in the wake of failed
christmas day bombing
passengers traveling to the united states will see more airport security
screening and more armed air marshals on flights homeland secretary secretary
janet napolitano said
we must remain vigilant about the continued threat we face from al qaeda
napolitano said we are taking an additional set of aviation security
precautions to protect the american people
some of these measures include enhanced random screening additional federal
air marshals on certain routes and adding individuals of concern to our
terrorist watch list system
the announcement follows president barack obama wide ranging security review
launched in the wake the attempted bombing of trans atlantic jet on christmas
day
administration officials who asked not to be named said thursday measures
were part of wider vigilance in the face of continued al qaeda threats
originating from yemen
the obama administration has faced fierce criticism for intelligence failures
that allowed young nigerian man to board the detroit bound airliner allegedly
armed with explosives sewn into his underwear
umar farouk abdulmutallab ufa has been charged with attempted murder and
trying to use weapon of mass destruction on board the northwest flight
carrying people from amsterdam
the attack is thought to have been hatched in yemen bringing al qaeda
operations in that arabian gulf state into sharp focus
we do know aqap al qaeda in the arabian peninsula sent ufa our way and it
would not be prudent to suddenly think that threats like this have passed with
his failure an administration official told afp
am sure there will be more security measure announcements in the future as we
constantly review all the information available to us
earlier this week canada put its airlines and airports on high alert after
receiving specific information about new threats
meanwhile napolitano warned travelers visiting the united states that they
should expected delays
travelers should allot extra time when flying particularly into the united
states from overseas she said
while laborious airport screening irks many visitors to the united states
tougher measures are popular with americans according to recent polls
on thursday quinnipiac university survey showed percent of respondents
said us anti terror policies leaned too far toward protecting civil rights
rather than national security
industry representatives said the tougher measures had been widely expected
we will have to come to grips with the reality that the air travel experience
will be different said david castelveter of the air transport association
trade association
it will not be the same tomorrow as it is today we will have to turn up
earlier and pack differently
but there are lingering concerns that security related delays will cost already
struggling airlines
to address those concerns napolitano is scheduled to meet airline executives
next week in geneva at the headquarters of the international air transport
association an official for the organization said
the meeting will come as airlines report their forth quarter earnings which are
expected to reflect the full price of delays related to the thwarted christmas
day bomb plot
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
eight canadians killed by haiti quake missing
ottawa jan afp
eight canadians are confirmed dead and some are still unaccounted for
after this week devastating earthquake in haiti foreign minister lawrence
cannon said saturday
the number of canadians thought missing in the disaster zone since the quake
struck and who had yet to contact their families was slightly down from the
figure of given on friday when the death toll was just four
the canadian government estimates that canadians were in haiti when the
giant magnitude quake struck on tuesday leaving tens of thousands dead in
the capital port au prince and surrounding areas of western haiti
the first four canadian fatalities were missionary nurse policeman and
well known writer of haitian origin georges anglade and his wife
added to these on saturday were two employees of the canadian international
development agency acdi who were on mission in port au prince guillaume
siemienski and helene rivard as well as the head of the police contingent in
haiti doug coates and university student from drummondville quebec denis
bellavance
canada government was continuing efforts to bring aid to the haitian people
some canadian soldiers were now on the scene with tons of provisions
medication and rescue equipment said defence minister peter mackay
another canadian soldiers and more supplies reached port au prince on
saturday on board jumbo transport plane and hercules military
aircraft they were to be used to evacuate the remaining canadian nationals
some of whom have already been repatriated
the canadian government also announced saturday that it would fast track
immigration procedures for haitians affected by the earthquake who have family
in canada
it the government intention to facilitate as quickly as possible the
reunification of canadian citizens with haitians as well as members of their
family that have been very severely affected by the disaster said immigration
minister jason kenney
according to government figures some people of haitian origin live in
canada
amc ag mdl jkb
first aid is small mercy at haiti quake epicenter
leogane haiti jan afp
first shipment of un food aid arrived on saturday in the ruined haitian town
of leogane where street after street of homes and businesses was torn apart by
this week devastating earthquake
just kilometres miles west of the capital port au prince leogane was
close to the epicentre of tuesday quake and almost every structure from the
historic central church to seafront beer shacks was damaged
thousands no one yet knows how many of people were killed but with the
international rescue effort concentrated in haiti capital leogane people
have so far been left to fend for themselves in ad hoc squatter camps
on saturday sri lankan united nations troops escorted in single truck load of
high energy biscuits for the world food programme and small teams of
international aid workers made their first forays to inspect the damage
it the very epicenter of the earthquake and many many thousands are dead
said world food program spokesman david orr as peacekeepers raised the un sri
lankan and haitian banners for the television crews
nearly every house was destroyed here the military are talking about to
dead he said as wfp staff handed out packs of biscuits to crowd that
had gathered in front of leogane ruined city hall
the cheerful queues of mainly young men and women marshalled by the sri
lankans grinned playfully as youngsters tried to jump in front some filming
each other with their mobile phones as they awaited their emergency rations
for although locals welcomed the arrival of the aid effort as sign they had
not been abandoned the biscuit drop was of mainly symbolic value
barely metres yards from the truck stalls sold onions eggs and garlic and
mothers cooked steaming bowls of rice and beans under shelters of wood sheets
and un and usaid left behind from previous hurricane disasters
leogane is in desperate need but not of biscuits
with all public and health services out and the bulk of the population homeless
and living in cramped bivouacs the city needs medical supplies and clinics
and in the longer term it will need to be rebuilt
it small distribution that not worthy of the catastrophe that has befallen
us said year old events promoter maxime dumont pointing out that his house
was the only left standing on its stretch of street
two jeeploads of foreign aid workers including one from save the children had
also come to leogane to see what they could do to help but all three city
hospitals were closed and one had entirely collapsed
once elegant colonial era homes had crumbled in sad heaps of wood and soft
bricks while the more modern structures had collapsed in shattered pancakes of
jagged concrete slabs and twisted steel reinforcing rods
in the ruelle des fleurs flower lane once elegant residential street of two
and three story detached homes overlooked by palm trees and draped in red
blossoms elderly damelie maitre sat nursing her broken arm
on tuesday at pm she had been rehearsing with the ladies in her choir when
the quake struck masonry from an adjoining building smashed through the
corrugated tin roof of their hall and wiped out of the singers
damelie survived but her wounds have become infected and she seems stunned
sitting on chair in her driveway holding an arm splinted with cardboard box
and tears in her eyes
the quake struck with such force ve never known anything like that said
damelie husband year old sugar plant worker fremy maitre pointing at the
house opposite where the first story was flattened by the second
year old girl known to neighbors by the nickname dautoutou died in the
house but her body has yet to be recovered
leogane must once have been an attractive town
on the road from the capital now partly blocked in fallen boulders from the
hills running up from the blue caribbean waters refugees are sleeping under
plastic sheeting amid banana groves and green fields of corn
for every peasant shack and waterfront snack bar destroyed there is an imposing
villa or ambitious commercial venture in ruins the town itself has broad
avenues and spacious squares now festooned with fallen power lines
what can we say about the future nothing we can say nothing we are reduced
to nothing declared year old it worker pierre desrosiers
prince william arrives in new zealand at start of tour
auckland jan afp
britain prince william arrived in auckland sunday at the start of five day
visit to new zealand and australia
the prince was met at auckland airport by new zealand prime minister john key
and governor general anand satyanand in low key welcome without pomp or
ceremony
as well as carrying out some official duties on behalf of his grandmother queen
elizabeth ii in new zealand the second in line to the throne will travel to
australia on tuesday for more informal three day visit
william is on his third visit to new zealand the first was with his parents
prince charles and the late princess diana as nine month old baby in
he returned in representing the queen at world war ii commemorations and
also taking time out to follow the fortunes of the touring british and irish
lions
william interest in rugby will take centre stage at the start of the tour with
visit sunday to eden park rugby stadium in auckland where he will meet all
blacks and hear about plans for next year rugby world cup
he will later go sailing on auckland harbour in new zealand america cup
yacht and have traditional indigenous maori hangi meal cooked in pit in
the ground
the prince is taking break from his military career which reached landmark
friday when his father presented him with his flying badge after graduating from
the royal air force advanced helicopter training course
later this month william will start training to become search and rescue
pilot
football nigeria defender yobo suffers new hamstring injury
benguela angola jan afp
everton defender joseph yobo has told nigeria coach shuaibu amodu that he may
have suffered hamstring injury against benin which could rule him out of the
rest of africa cup of nations
yobo limped out of saturday group win over benin in the nd minute
after clash with razak omotoyossi
spoke to the player and he told me that it was not the same problem he had
before this competition that this could be new hamstring injury said amodu
hamstring injury could effectively end yobo nations cup campaign but amodu
has said that he has very capable replacements for the everton star
we have squad of players and if one player is missing for one reeason or
the other there will be replacement for such player he said
nigeria second in group with three points from two matches face mozambique
in lubango in their final group game
group leaders egypt with six points have already booked their place in the
last eight here
football portuguese league table
lisbon jan afp
portuguese league table after saturday matches played won drawn lost
goals for goals against points
sporting braga
benfica
fc porto
sporting lisbon
nacional
vitoria guimaraes
uniao leiria
rio ave
mar timo funchal
academica coimbra
pa os de ferreira
naval
olhanense
vitoria setubal
belenenses
leixoes
clinton tells haiti we will be here today tomorrow
port au prince jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton vowed saturday the united states stood
ready to help the quake stricken nation of haiti today tomorrow and for the
time ahead
we are here at the invitation of your government to help you clinton told
press conference after meeting haiti president rene preval at the base set up
for the massive relief operations in the haitian capital
as president barack obama has said we will be here today tomorrow and for
the time ahead she pledged
the top us diplomat said she and preval would be issuing statement on sunday
setting forth our intention to work together
she told haitians you have been severely tested but believe that haiti can
come back even stronger and better in the future
officials estimate people were killed and million left homeless in
the magnitude quake which rocked the impoverished caribbean nation on
tuesday
football portuguese league results
lisbon jan afp
portuguese league results on saturday
olhanense castro naval
vitoria guimaraes marquino targino vitoria setubal keita collin
fc porto radamel falcao garcia pa os de ferreira maykon
sporting lisbon veloso liedson nacional micael edgar
football messi joins barcelona club as champions go five clear
madrid jan afp
lionel messi scored his th barcelona goal on saturday as the spanish
champions thumped sevilla at camp nou to go five points clear of real
madrid
messi scored twice in the final five minutes to make it five goals in his
last two matches and take his career total to becoming the youngest player
in the club illustrious history to reach the landmark
an own goal from julien escude and pedro rodriguez strike capped miserable
second half for sevilla who paid heavy price for knocking barcelona out of the
kings cup in midweek
real had crashed to their third defeat of the season with loss at athletic
bilbao earlier on saturday and barca made them pay for the slip up notching
their first home win of to open up five point cushion
there is the whole second half of the season to go so we shouldn get too
complacent said messi who leads the goalscoring charts with goals
it was the third meeting between barca and sevilla in days and after losing
out in the cup barcelona set the score straight as sevilla fell to fourth
consecutive league defeat and now languish down in sixth
bilbao are now level on points with sevilla after their battling win over
real at san mames
spanish international forward fernando llorente headed the decisive goal after
just two minutes and bilbao survived an onslaught with karim benzema kaka and
cristiano ronaldo all going close to hold on for an historic win
we created the chances to get better result and there was almost only one
team on the pitch said real coach manuel pellegrini
however you have to have some luck to convert these chances when you lose you
have obviously not done something right
there is long way to go in the league with more than half of it remaining
now it is important we beat malaga at home in the next league match
zlatan ibrahimovic returned from suspension for barcelona and should have scored
in the sixth minute but arrived too early to convert thierry henry cross
henry almost scored himself on minutes but andres palop rushed out to block
the french striker poked effort
palop also tipped over lionel messi deflected shot before half time
barca got the early breakthrough with gerard pique shot deflected in off
escude
for the subsequent quarter hour barca put their foot down as palop made three
saves to deny messi and henry while ibrahimovic had header ruled out for
offside
second goal was coming and arrived minutes from time with xavi threading an
incredible pass to subtitute pedro who lobbed palop and the goal had the whole
crowd on their feet applauding
messi scored five minutes from time and added his second in stoppage time
the result was bad news for real whose away form is threatening to shatter their
title bid
real dropped two points in their last away match with draw at osasuna and
fired blanks again at bilbao
bilbao hit the woodwork twice in the first minute carlos gurpegi thumped the
left hand post and the ball came out to gaizka toquero who crashed his shot
against the other upright from close range
it was warning but real didn take enough notice as they conceded minute
later
corner from the left took slight deflection and llorente powered header
past international team mate iker casillas
real had kept three consecutive clean sheets so the goal was shock and they
responded in the best fashion with benzema forcing save from gorka iraizoz
real thought they had equalised when kaka threaded pass found benzema but the
frenchman shot came back off the post into iraizoz grateful arms
ronaldo constantly jeered by the home fans almost equalised on the hour mark
but iraizoz thwarted him and it was the same story in stoppage time with the
goalkeeper keeping out low drive from the portuguese star
top official killed in haiti quake was respected un veteran
port au prince jan afp
hedi annabi the civilian head of the un mission to haiti who was killed in
devastating quake in the caribbean country was quiet but highly respected
veteran troubleshooter
un chief ban ki moon confirmed saturday the death of annabi his mission chief
in haiti and his brazilian deputy in the quake that flattened the un mission
main headquarters
am deeply saddened to confirm the tragic death of my special representative
to haiti hedi annabi ban said in statement
the respected tunisian official served as deputy head of un peacekeeping
operations from to
ban hailed annabi as true citizen of the world
the united nations was his life and he ranked amongst its most dedicated and
committed sons he was passionate about its mission and its people the
secretary general said
ban also described his dead deputy luiz carlos da costa of brazil as for
many many years legend of un peacekeeping operations
un officials said the pair were holding talks with visiting chinese police
delegation in the minustah headquarters five story concrete building known as
the christopher hotel when the magnitude earthquake struck tuesday
annabi was well liked by un diplomats for his dedication and quiet demeanor
hedi annabi has earned huge amount of respect and of trust farhan haq un
spokesman told afp
annabi born in assumed his haiti post in september taking over from
edmond mulet of guatemala
tunisian former career diplomat annabi joined the united nations in and
served in series of senior posts in the un department of peacekeeping
operations from
the announcement brought to the number of un personnel confirmed dead in
tuesday quake which killed at least people according to haitian
authorities
close to people among the un staffers serving in haiti are still
unaccounted for according to un officials
football spanish league table
madrid jan afp
spanish league table after saturday matches played won drawn lost goals
for goals against points
barcelona
real madrid
valencia
deportivo la coruna
real mallorca
sevilla
athletic bilbao
getafe
sporting gijon
villarreal
atletico madrid
osasuna
racing santander
espanyol
almeria
valladolid
tenerife
malaga
real zaragoza
xerez
figure skating canadian championships results
london canada jan afp
selected results here on saturday from the canadian figure skating
championships qualifier for the vancouver winter olympics
pairs
free skate jessica dube bryce davison pts anabelle langlois cody
hay meagan duhamel craig buntin mylene brodeur john
mattatall kirsten moore towers dylan moscovitch paige
lawrence rudi swiegers
final standings jessica dube bryce davison anabelle langlois cody
hay meagan duhamel craig buntin mylene brodeur john
mattatall kirsten moore towers dylan moscovitch paige
lawrence rudi swiegers
women
free skate joannie rochette cynthia phaneuf diane
szmiett myriane samson amelie lacoste adriana
desanctis
final standings joannie rochette cynthia phaneuf
myriane samson diane szmiett amelie lacoste
adriana desanctis
no decision on new iran sanctions
new york jan afp
six major powers considered new sanctions against iran over its nuclear defiance
here saturday but reached no decision senior european union official said
the closed door meeting hosted by the european union at its mission in new york
brought together senior officials from britain france germany russia and the
united states china signaling its reluctance to back tougher sanctions pushed
by the west sent lower level diplomat
consideration of appropriate further measures has begun robert cooper top
eu diplomat said after the meeting giving no details of the measures
discussed
he spoke as host and chair of the closed door working luncheon which lasted
just over two hours
cooper said the six expressed concern over iran building of new secret
enrichment plant with no credible civilian purpose as well as its
insufficient cooperation with the un international atomic energy agency
iaea
the six were also concerned about tehran rejection of deal under which most
of iran low enriched uranium leu stockpile would be shipped abroad to be
further enriched into reactor fuel
tehran has ignored us set december deadline to accept the offer drawn up
by the un international atomic energy agency and countered with its own
proposal of simultaneous and staged swap of leu with reactor fuel
iran insists it is ready to send its leu abroad only if there is simultaneous
exchange of fuel inside the country
