to have produced similar amount in accounting for about one third of
global production
us lawmakers to pore over christmas day bomb plot
washington jan afp
key us congress committees next week will start series of briefings and
hearings into the thwarted christmas day attack on us jet officials said
monday with the specter of terrorism set to shape november mid term elections
the us house intelligence committee scheduled january briefing on the
foiled plot and expected to receive preliminary findings from reviews
ordered by president barack obama into failed airline security procedures
democratic representative silvestre reyes the panel chairman expects that
the january th briefing will include the preliminary findings of the
president internal review said his spokeswoman courtney littig
the us senate judiciary committee which has wide jurisdiction over key law
enforcement agencies set january briefing to examine the effectiveness of
anti terrorism tools and interagency communication
the us senate intelligence committee scheduled january hearing on the
serious failures in the us spy community that allowed the suspected bomber to
board the aircraft
the obama administration has already ordered tight new security measures for
passengers flying to the united states after year old nigerian umar farouk
abdulmutallab allegedly tried to bring down northwest airlines jet
according to us prosecutors abdulmutallab tried to bring down flight using
device containing the explosive petn also known as pentaerythritol
stitched into his underwear it was not spotted by the traditional metal
detectors it failed to go off properly but sparked an on board fire that was
swiftly put out
the us senate commerce science and transportation committee which has
oversight over the transportation security administration tsa airport security
agency has also called january hearing
democratic senator jay rockefeller the panel chairman said the plot raised
questions about the effectiveness of our aviation security screening
especially internationally but also about the degree to which we are connecting
the dots and sharing information in the intelligence community
two more spanish savings banks agree to merge report
madrid jan afp
two more regional spanish savings banks caja duero and caja espana agreed to
merge on monday spanish news reports said as the pace of consolidation in the
sector gathers pace amid the country recession
the two banks both based in the northern region of castilla leon reached the
deal late on monday after months of negotiations
spanish newspapers said the merger would be ratified by the boards of directors
on tuesday morning
last month two regional spanish savings banks unicaja and cajasur based in
the southwestern region of andalusia also agreed to merge
and in november two savings banks based in the northeastern region of catalonia
caixa penedes and caixa laietana announced that they had decided to join
forces
spanish banks got off relatively lightly from the subprime mortgage crisis in
as the country strict rules meant they did not invest heavily in the
high risk loans that hurt financial institutions elsewhere
but many especially smaller unlisted saving banks usually controlled by
regional politicians were badly hit by the collapse of the country once
booming property market both through loans to developers and mortgages
the spanish economy europe fifth largest entered into recession at the end
of as the international credit crunch hastened correction which was
already under way in the property sector
spain gdp contracted percent in the third quarter its fifth straight
quarterly decline
corrected fbi in ghana to probe botched us plane attack minister
accra jan afp
agents of the us federal bureau of investigation are in ghana to find out about
the sojourn in the country of nigerian man accused of trying to blow up us
airliner ghanaian minister said monday
the investigation will allow the fbi agents to gather more information on the
suspect stay in ghana deputy information minister james agyenim boateng told
afp
he did not say when the fbi team arrived in ghana and how long the agents plan
to stay in the west african country
it is ghana first known official comment on the allegations by nigerian
authorities that the suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab arrived in lagos on
december on virgin nigeria flight from ghana
nigerian information minister dora akunyili had said on thursday that the
suspect after arriving from ghana spent less than minutes at the lagos
airport before boarding his next flight for amsterdam
abdulmutallab allegedly bought the ticket for the bomb targeted flight in ghana
where his journey began
the director general of the nigerian civil aviation authority ncaa harold
demuren had explained on december that abdulmutallab boarded klm flight out
of lagos on the th december enroute detroit michigan usa via amsterdam
the ticket was purchased from the klm airport office in accra on th
december he said
the suspect personally checked in at pm gmt and he went through
normal checking process his passport was scanned his us visa was scanned and
the apis advance passenger information system returned with no objection he
said
his multiple us entry visa issued in london on june last year was not due
to expire until june next year he added
agyenim boateng said ghana was unhappy about not being informed of concerns
about abdulmutallab whose father had reported the young man radical views to
the united states and other foreign security agencies
fighting terrorism is collective responsibility of every country and it is
therefore important that we share security information of this nature if we are
to fight terrorism agyenim boateng said
if we have heard this information given to the us embassy in nigeria from our
nigerian counterparts the suspect would have been subjected to more thorough
screening he said
nigeria and ghana are both members of the nation regional bloc the economic
community of west african states ecowas
agyenim boateng also said that ghana has purchased full body scanner to be
installed at the kotoka international airport in accra the nation biggest
airport where security has been beefed up
the scanner when installed would ensure that travellers go through full body
scanning and find out if they are carrying any weapons or drugs he said
us authorities have accused the nigerian suspect of trying to trigger an
explosion on northwest airlines flight from amsterdam to detroit on christmas
day with chemicals that had been stitched into his underwear he is currently
being held in michigan prison
washington said monday stricter measures will be compulsory on flights from
nations including nigeria while random enhanced checks will be carried out
on all planes landing at us airport
all travellers from the targeted countries would be subjected to extra body pat
downs and advanced screening of baggage us official said imaging and
explosive detection technology might also be used
northrop to move to washington area
washington jan afp
us defense giant northrop grumman announed plans monday to move its corporate
headquarters to the us capital of washington to be closer to government and key
customers
the company said the move from los angeles would be completed by and that
site would be selected in or near the city of washington including the suburbs
of maryland and virginia
the company is engaged in search to identify specific location within the
washington dc region including the district maryland and virginia it plans
to complete the search by spring and open the new corporate office by
summer the group said
as global security company with large customer base in the washington dc
region this move will enable us to better serve our nation and customers said
wes bush chief executive officer and president
the new corporate office will include approximately people northrop said it
would keep california for significant location for northrop grumman research
development and manufacturing
french economy could grow at least one percent in minister
paris jan afp
economy minister christine lagarde said she expected the french economy to grow
at least one percent in and that she would probably revise upwards the
government forecast growth figure
in an interview to be published tuesday by the business paper les echos lagarde
said the figure would probably be revised in supplementary budget to be
submitted to cabinet meeting at the end of the month
the budget which was adopted by parliament last month forecast growth
rate of percent
prime minister francois fillon said in november the french economy could grow
percent in although the budget bill his administration sent to
parliament was based on the percent estimate
us updates no fly lists as airports tighten checks
washington jan afp
the united states monday radically overhauled its terror watch putting dozens
more suspects on no fly lists as air travelers around the world faced tough
new screening rules
there already been rescrubbing of all the different lists white house
spokesman bill burton told journalists referring to the lists which determine
whether person is allowed to board us bound flight in foreign airport
probably thousands upon thousands upon thousands of names were scrubbed and
probably dozens were moved to different lists he added of the reviews carried
out in the wake of botched christmas day bombing of northwest jet
new rules at international airports also went into effect from early monday
meaning all passengers boarding us bound flights may now be subjected to random
checks and baggage searches
further boosting security measures all travelers coming from or via terror
linked countries will have to undergo compulsory enhanced screening
afghanistan cuba iran libya nigeria pakistan somalia sudan and syria are
among some of the other countries affected
the alleged bomber of northwest flight year old nigerian umar farouk
abdulmutallab boarded the plane in amsterdam after arriving from lagos
nigerian officials have said however he started his journey in ghana and they
hit out at the new rules saying it amounted to discrimination
it is unfair to discriminate against over million people because of the
behavior of one person information minister dora akunyili told journalists
the new security measures have caused confusion in some airports including at
rome fiumicino where passengers headed to the united states faced major delays
at security checks
the dutch airport schiphol where abdulmutallab boarded the plane for detroit
is also to get new full body scanners to cover all us bound flights in
addition to already installed
the scanners will be operational at schiphol in the coming months spokeswoman
for the schiphol group mirjam snoerwang told afp
britain meanwhile denied accusations that it failed to share information about
abdulmutallab graduate of university college london who was put on
watchlist barring him from future entry into britain in may
prime minister gordon brown office said information gathered while he was
student in london between and had been passed to us authorities
clearly there was security information about this individual activities and
that was information that was shared with the us authorities that is the key
point brown official spokesman told reporters
as the investigation into the botched bombing continued us president barack
obama held more talks ahead of key meeting tuesday with intelligence and
security chiefs at the white house
fbi agents were also in ghana investigating abdulmutallab stay where he
allegedly bought the ticket for the bomb targeted flight
the investigation will allow the fbi agents to gather more information on the
suspect stay in ghana deputy information minister james agyenin boateng told
afp
abudmutallab is also said to have spent time in yemen where he came into contact
with cell of the al qaeda network
al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap has said it was behind the christmas
day plot to blow up the plane over detroit which failed when chemicals sewn into
abdulmutallab underwear failed to explode correctly
with western pressure growing for sanaa to tackle aqap yemeni forces shot dead
two al qaeda militants monday in bid to capture mohammed al hanq one of the
group most senior leaders who managed to flee the firefight
france also became the latest country to close its embassy in sanaa following
move by britain and the united states on sunday
paris said it would no longer authorize public access to the premises of our
diplomatic mission while japan and the netherlands halted consular services and
italy said it would only deal with people with appointments
us secretary of state hillary clinton said the us embassy would remain closed
until the security conditions were deemed to have improved
yemeni foreign minister abu bakr al kurbi however monday rejected any
comparison between his country and afghanistan as an al qaeda haven
the situation is different in yemen and cannot be compared to afghanistan
kurbi told reporters during visit to doha
ubs whistleblower must start prison term friday judge
miami jan afp
an ex employee of swiss banking giant ubs must begin serving more than three
years in prison this week federal court judge ruled denying request to
delay the sentence and shorten his jail term
united states district judge william zloch monday denied petition by defendant
bradley birkenfeld to put off his term which begins on friday
birkenfeld had argued that his whistleblower role in exposing massive fraud by
ubs should be rewarded with less than the three years and four month sentence he
received for inciting ubs clients to commit tax fraud
birkenfeld blew the whistle on some ubs clients who were said to have
invested some billion swiss francs billion dollars in secret swiss
accounts information which could allow the us government to recoup several
billion dollars in lost taxes
but it did not earn him reprieve after he was sentenced to jail for his role
in aiding california property developer to hide some million dollars worth
of investments in switzerland and lichtenstein
gave them the biggest tax fraud case in the world exposed
international criminals and going to jail for that he told cbs television
in broadcast that aired sunday
birkenfeld was sentenced in august just two days after ubs and the us and swiss
governments reached landmark out of court settlement in which the company
agreed to hand over the names of some suspected tax evaders
birkenfeld attorney stephen kohn told cbs his client eventually could be
entitled to up to percent of any taxes recovered by the us tax authorities
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor kerry sheridan
tel
what happening in the americas on tuesday
obama meets top spy chiefs on botched plane bombing
monthly car sales figures
washington president barack obama is to meet with spy chiefs and security
officials to discuss the findings of two investigations into the botched
christmas day plane attack expect coverage attacks us nigeria
detroit michigan figures released for monthly auto sales expect coverage
boston massachusetts court hearing for tarek mehanna accused of plotting
terror attacks in the united states and abroad coverage on merit
santiago monitoring the strike at two mines owned by chile codelco company
the world biggest copper mining concern as workers demand higher pay and
better work benefits expect coverage chile mining copper strike
washington former nasa employee appears in court accused of trying to spy for
israel coverage on merit
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor kerry sheridan
tel
what happening in the americas on tuesday
obama meets top spy chiefs on botched plane bombing
monthly car sales figures
washington president barack obama is to meet with spy chiefs and security
officials to discuss the findings of two investigations into the botched
christmas day plane attack expect coverage attacks us nigeria
detroit michigan figures released for monthly auto sales expect coverage
boston massachusetts court hearing for tarek mehanna accused of plotting
terror attacks in the united states and abroad coverage on merit
santiago monitoring the strike at two mines owned by chile codelco company
the world biggest copper mining concern as workers demand higher pay and
better work benefits expect coverage chile mining copper strike
washington former nasa employee appears in court accused of trying to spy for
israel coverage on merit
corrected life sentence for plot figure moussaoui confirmed
washington jan afp
us appeals court confirmed monday life sentence handed down on zacarias
moussaoui french national for complicity in the september attacks
on the united states
the ruling upheld sentence passed by federal court in virginia in may
after moussaoui pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the hijackings of the airliners
used in the attacks in new york and washington
moussaoui who later recanted his testimony only to claim he was part of another
al qaeda plot is serving life sentence at maximum security prison in
colorado
upbeat wall street higher as new year opens
new york jan afp
wall street staged strong rally to open the new year monday with sentiment
boosted by global market rally that was helped by corporate dealmaking and
upbeat economic news from the us and china
the dow jones industrial average jumped points percent to close at
on the heels of hefty gains in stock markets in most of europe and
japan
the technology heavy nasdaq composite rose points percent to
and the broad market standard amp poor index advanced
points percent to
the dow and amp closed at their best levels in months while the nasdaq
hit month high amid wave of optimism on markets
there is bullish bias that is often associated with the start of new year
as new money gets put to work riding the wave of typically upbeat forecasts
said patrick hare at briefing com
most stock markets around the globe are trading higher on account of better
than expected survey on manufacturing activity in china the irony of this
report is that the chinese market didn participate in its country own good
news
nick perry at schaeffer investment research said the rally was probably helped
by buying from traders returning after long holiday
as traders return to their desks they are seeing market that is breaking out
to new highs and the initial reaction is to chase the rally he said
on the economic front data showed the us manufacturing sector saw its strongest
pace of activity since april last month as factories ramped up production
to make up for massive drawdown in inventories
the institute for supply management said its manufacturing index also known as
the purchasing managers index climbed to percent in december from
percent in november for fifth consecutive month of expansion
overall the december survey points toward sturdy growth in manufacturing
industrial production which is forecast to have increased percent at an
annual rate in the fourth quarter said ryan sweet at moody economy com
similarly in china the hsbc manufacturing pmi or purchasing managers index
rose to in december from in november the survey showed
sentiment was also helped by big corporate deals with swiss pharmaceutical
group novartis announcing it had bought controlling stake in the world
biggest eye care firm alcon from nestle and that it was seeking full ownership
of alcon
the market opened the first trading day of the year after tumultuous that
saw steep falls early in the year followed by sensational recovery the blue
chip dow gained percent for the year with the nasdaq up whopping
percent and the amp index rising percent
in europe paris was the main feature topping very strong resistance at
points as investors pushed the cac up percent to its best
finish since october
london ftse index of leading shares rose percent to while in
frankfurt the dax added percent to
among stocks in focus on wall street chevron rallied percent to
dollars and exxonmobil added of percent to dollars as crude oil
prices rallied on optimism about the economic recovery
elsewhere broker upgrades boosted computer chip giant intel up percent to
dollars and aerospace firm boeing up percent to dollars
in finance morgan stanley rallied percent to dollars on two broker
upgrades
chesapeake energy soared percent to dollars after announcing plans
for billion dollar joint venture with french petroleum giant total which
will buy stake in its shale producing assets
bonds were mixed the yield on the year treasury bond dipped to percent
from percent last thursday and that on the year bond rose to
percent from percent bond yields and prices move in opposite directions
football gm pleads guilty to sexually assaulting babysitter
ottawa jan afp
championship winning canadian football executive on monday pleaded guilty to
sexual assault for clutching babysitter hips and pulling her towards him
while acting loopy on prescription drugs
saskatchewan roughriders general manager eric tillman pleaded guilty in regina
provincial court to sexually assaulting the then year old girl in august
the year old was charged early last year after the girl filed complaint
with police
tillman was immediately sidelined by the team after the plea club president jim
hopson said in statement tillman agreed to step back from the team day to
day operations until the board decides whether or not to fire him
tillman who also faces up to months in prison over the conviction is to be
sentenced on tuesday
the jackson mississippi native led the british columbia lions the toronto
argonauts and the saskatchewan roughriders to grey cup championships in
and respectively
the court heard tillman came home from work in august having taken sleeping
pills and muscle relaxants colleagues said he had been acting loopy
he reportedly approached the babysitter caring for his three and five year old
children from behind put his hands on her hips gripped her belt loops with his
fingers and pulled her toward him
prosecutors said the action was sexual in nature
flixster com buys rotten tomatoes movie review site
washington jan afp
online movie community website flixster com said monday it has purchased popular
movie review site rotten tomatoes from ign entertainment division of rupert
murdoch news corp
san francisco based flixster which offers movie listings reviews quizzes
games and other activities and claims more than million monthly users did
not disclose the financial terms of the deal
it said ign would receive minority equity stake in flixster which was
launched in early
rotten tomatoes has built fantastically well known brand that moviegoers
trust when making their decisions flixster president and chief operating
officer steve polsky said in statement
combined with flixster social networking and word of mouth we re creating
the leading movie destination on the internet polsky added
rotten tomatoes aggregates reviews from hundreds of movie critics and rates them
with its tomatometer
flixster which offers movie applications for facebook myspace bebo and other
social networks and for mobile devices said both its site and rotten tomatoes
will continue to be available as separate properties
sapiro assumes post as deputy us trade representative
washington jan afp
miriam sapiro was sworn in monday as deputy us trade representative heading
trade negotiations with europe the middle east and the americas officials
said
sapiro confirmed by the senate december will also supervise
intergovernmental affairs market access services and investment intellectual
property and innovation and the washington office of wto and multilateral
affairs
she will hold one of two deputy positions in the office of us trade
representative ron kirk
sapiro who has law degree from new york university most recently served as
the founder and president of summit strategies international consulting firm
specializing in internet and telecommunications policy issues
she worked in the office of former president bill clinton and was counselor
for southeast european stabilization and reconstruction and previously in the
state department
croat party expels ex prime minister
zagreb jan afp
croatia conservative hdz party on monday expelled former prime minister ivo
sanader from its ranks day after he announced he might return to politics
after the party candidate failed in presidential polls
sanader who unexpectedly retired from politics in july had criticised the
leadership of his successor as prime minister jadranka kosor
the party leadership decided to strike ivo sanader from the list of hdz
members with voting in favour three against and two abstentions kosor
who is also party chief told news conference
we will not allow anybody to destroy the hdz she said after day long
debate among party officials
sanader noted on sunday that the hdz had recorded its worst result in the
first round of the presidential vote on december since it was founded in
he also said he had decided to fully activate my role as honorary president of
the hdz with all the duties and rights that entails
in the december vote the hdz presidential candidate andrija hebrang had
failed to make it through to the second round run off scheduled for january
garnering just percent of the vote
what happened yesterday sunday could also have led to the demise of the
government the prime minister said on monday
parties backing the coalition government have warned they may quit if sanader
interferes in the party or government business
in croatia is set to finalise negotiations in view of its eu membership and
take drastic steps to overcome the financial crisis
sanader has criticised kosor leadership but also acknowledged that he had to
share some of the blame for having withdrawn from the political scene
retiring completely from politics was mistake and am partly responsible for
the result in the presidential election he said
he still had two years of his term as prime minister left when he stepped down
he said sunday he might return as deputy in the croatian parliament when
moratorium imposed by local laws expires on january
croatian president stipe mesic was critical of his announcement
as much as the departure of mr sanader had surprised everyone and most people
thought that it was inappropriate and harmful for croatia so this return to the
public arena is in certain manner also inappropriate he said on national
radio
the opposition social democrat candidate ivo josipovic and the mayor of zagreb
milan bandic standing as an independent will contest the presidential run off
vote on january
rallying dakar rally results
fiambala argentina jan afp
dakar rally results on monday in the km third stage from la rioja to
fiambala
cars
rd stage
st phane peterhansel fra bmw hr min sec carlos sainz
esp volkswagen at nasser al attiyah qat volkswagen mark
miller usa volkswagen guerlain chicherit fra bmw ronan
chabot fra toyota andrew cox rsa nissan krzysztof
holowczyc pol nissan carlos sousa por stradale
guilherme spinelli bra stradale
selected
robby gordon andy grider usa hummer giniel de villiers
rsa volkswagen
overall
st phane peterhansel fra bmw carlos sainz esp volkswagen at
nasser al attiyah qat volkswagen mark miller
usa volkswagen krzysztof holowczyc pol nissan carlos
sousa por stradale andrew cox rsa nissan guilherme
spinelli bra stradale robby gordon usa hummer
mauricio neves bra volkswagen
selected
giniel de villiers rsa volkswagen
motorcycling
rd stage
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec helder rodrigues por yamaha at
paulo goncalves por bmw david casteu fra sherco
francisco lopez chi aprilia alain duclos fra ktm luca
manca ita ktm jonah street usa ktm marc coma esp ktm
pal ullevalseter nor ktm
overall
cyril despres fra ktm hr min sec david casteu fra sherco at
helder rodrigues por yamaha luca manca ita ktm
alain duclos fra ktm jonah street usa ktm francisco
lopez chi aprilia marc coma esp ktm pal ullevalseter
nor ktm paulo goncalves por bmw
us promotes once per decade census head count
washington jan afp
the us government on monday launched huge campaign to urge americans to take
part in the massive once per decade census head count of us inhabitants that
will take place later this year
the all important us tally which gets underway in march determines everything
from the number of seats district is entitled in the us congress to the
amount of dollars jurisdictions are given for federal projects
the us census bureau on monday unveiled what it called the largest civic
outreach campaign in us history to raise awareness of the decennial head count
sending huge truck and trailer on national promotional tour
the road tour seeks to educate and empower every person living across our
country to take part and participate in the census census bureau director
robert groves said in statement
attendees at road tour events will learn about the census how it affects their
local communities and even share their personal stories about why the census is
important to them at interactive kiosks and exhibits he said in statement
the massive truck towing gooseneck trailer emblazoned with the slogan mail it
