carrying some tonnes of materials such as medicines water purifiers and body
bags
at dawn wednesday third flight organised by the italian red cross will leave
milan loaded with tents field kitchen with capacity to produce meals
day food water purifiers and equipment to build camp
saudi sabic posts profit surge in fourth quarter
riyadh jan afp
saudi petrochemicals giant sabic reported fourth quarter surge in profits on
tuesday confirming the recovery in its main markets after poor results year
earlier
saudi basic industries corp the gulf largest listed company and one of the
world top petrochemicals producers turned in net profit of billion
riyals billion dollars for the three months to december compared with
just million riyals million dollars year ago
the outcome exceeded analyst predictions which were mostly below the four
billion riyal threshold and improved on the billion riyal million
dollars net profit for the july september period
the company credited improved demand and prices for its key products
the increase in net profit for the fourth quarter is due to rise in prices
and volumes sold for most petrochemical products plastics and metals it said
in report to saudi tadawul stock exchange after the close of trading
analysts called the results promising for the coming year when sabic is due to
press ahead with major plant developments including large new complex in
tianjin china being developed with chinese giant sinopec
the two companies announced on monday the completion of billion dollar
financing package for the new plant
the sky for the petrochemical industry seems to get progressively brighter
said shuaa capital in review of the results
france cautious on haiti adopted children
paris jan afp
france defended tuesday its hesitation to speed adopted children from the
earthquake wreckage of haiti as other countries have done saying it did not
want to be accused of kidnapping
belgium and spain followed the united states and the netherlands in announcing
they were fast tracking repatriation of children adopted in haiti where there
are shortages of water and food after last week huge quake
france said it was prioritising aid to children left homeless and that those for
whom the adoption procedure was completed would be brought to france although
it stopped short of ordering their immediate evacuation
even with the good pretext of saving children we must not be accused of
kidnapping france foreign minister bernard kouchner told parliament
kouchner said adopted children in haiti out of on government list
would however come to france very quickly since the formalities will be greatly
speeded up
in sensitive case for france in six members of french aid charity were
convicted of trying to traffic to france chadian children whom they said
were refugees from the war in darfur
adoption group adoption sans frontieres criticised the government measures for
the adopted haitian children as insufficient and said all the children should
be brought to france immediately
french parents could not always provide documentation to prove their adoptions
were complete because the certificates were in haiti and it was unlikely they
could be obtained soon said its president nadine bihore
we are demanding the repatriation of all children who have been assigned
parents whatever stage their case has got to she told afp
christine vigneresse french woman in the process of adopting three year old
girl from haiti said about children chosen by french families were stranded
in port au prince orphanage
we are not abductors of children but people who have already taken steps with
the haitian authorities to carry out these adoptions said vigneresse who
called on paris to remove bureaucratic hurdles to completing the adoptions
authorities in belgium said tuesday the country was moving to speed up adoptions
of haitian children dating back to before the quake even if the procedure
is not yet finished
the netherlands monday sent plane to haiti to fetch around children being
adopted there by dutch families spain also said it had sped up the paperwork
for those have completed the adoption process
eu tiptoes into luxembourg tax row
brussels jan afp
european finance ministers agreed on tuesday to break up multi pronged bid to
force austria and luxembourg to open up banking secrecy laws in the fight
against tax fraud
loose understanding to tighten up rules over exchange of information for the
recovery of unpaid taxes in other member states was brokered when the european
union spanish presidency agreed to separate different strands
the decision followed stern warning by luxembourg finance minister luc
frieden that eu partners were wasting their time trying to bully him into an
all encompassing accord as tax matters are reserved for member states
the ministers reached agreement on general approach pending the opinion of
the european parliament on draft directive aimed at strengthening mutual
assistance between member states in the recovery of taxes statement said
the directive calls for rules that are easier to apply including as regards
information held by banks and other financial institutions and provide for more
flexible conditions for requesting assistance requiring the spontaneous
exchange of information
finance ministers from the other eu nations ultimately want to secure
automatic exchange of account information between member states and third party
tax havens some of which are british or dutch dependent territories
the issue has acquired renewed political vigour as recession has wreaked havoc
with governments tax takes and attempts to recover every last penny available
to shore up treasury finances are pursued across the board
amendments to eu laws on the taxation of savings interest on cooperation
between tax administrations and on tax recovery as well as anti fraud
agreements with non eu neighbours andorra liechtenstein monaco san marino and
switzerland have been on the agenda for years
supporters of the moves say the pressure on luxembourg and vienna will
eventually become unbearable in the context of moves to close tax loopholes
around the globe
but frieden who said the debate was going nowhere wants level playing
field with nations on information exchange and not simply an opening up of
its books to larger rivals with more political clout
he said the wider issue needs an objective serene debate on several aspects of
taxation
all of that must be discussed unless we want to see to see financial activity
moved to asia he stressed
the eu outgoing taxation commissioner laszlo kovacs said there were five
delicate taxation issues on the agenda which were seen by most backers as an
integrated package
however there was an agreement that we can split the package in order to make
faster progress he said
french finance minister christine lagarde said an animated debate over
desirable law changes meant it was unrealistic not to break the problem up
into smaller parcels even if recovery was the least controversial to deal
with
force behind kraft cadbury is powerful woman
new york jan afp
the driving force behind the long kraft foods struggle for british confectioner
cadbury is the us firm chief executive irene rosenfeld seen as one of the
most powerful women in american business
rosenfeld year veteran of the food and beverage industry was ranked last
year as number six on the forbes magazine list of the most powerful women in
the world list topped by german chancellor angela merkel
fortune magazine ranked her second on list of the most powerful women in
american business behind pepsico chairman and ceo indra nooyi
rosenfeld year old mother of two was named ceo at kraft in june and
became chairman in march when kraft was spun off from the conglomerate
altria
she is one of just two women ceos heading member of the dow jones blue chip
industrials along with ellen kullman at dupont
with hobbies that include piano and rollerblading rosenfeld has bachelor
degree in psychology from cornell university and master degree in business
administration as well as ph in marketing and statistics
she began her career at the dancer fitzgerald sample advertising agency in new
york and later joined general foods which was merged into kraft in the
in consumer research
at kraft she led restructuring and turnaround efforts of key businesses in the
united states canada and mexico and the integration of the nabisco
acquisition
in she was appointed chairman and chief executive of frito lay division
of pepsico where she led efforts to introduce healthy products before
returning to kraft
on her official company biography rosenfeld says her favorite kraft product is
its macaroni and cheese but added that oreo cookies are high up on the list
too
she played four varsity sports in high school and said her career ambition was
to become president of the united states
rosenfeld has spent more than years with kraft including stint as
president of its north american businesses president of kraft canada executive
vice president for desserts and marketing director for beverages
over the past few months rosenfeld spearheaded the drive to take over cadbury
overcoming fierce opposition in britain as well as from key kraft shareholder
warren buffett among the world wealthiest people
on the kraft website orsenfeld said she is passionate about her job
it great to go to cocktail parties where everyone has an opinion about what
you do she says but really enjoy figuring out why people behave the way
they do and then using those insights to develop new products or build stronger
relationships with our consumer
more than haiti orphans flown to the us
washington jan afp
more than haitian orphans landed in the united states on tuesday and were
immediately taken for medical check ups hospital officials said
their orphanage in port au prince was run by two us sisters from pennsylvania
ali and jaime mcmutrie who campaigned for days to get the group of some
desperate children out of the devastated caribbean nation
they have landed and they are heading by bus to the hospital where they are
going be evaluated marc lukasiak spokesman for the children hospital in
pittsburgh told afp
most of the orphans were under the age of four and many were said to be
suffering from dehydration and diarrhea lukasiak said adding that it was too
early to know their overall condition
the children most of whom were awaiting adoption by american families in
process that normally takes months arrived on military transport plane
accompanied by pennsylvania governor ed rendell local television reported
some us families hoping to adopt the children welcomed the orphans at the
airport the tv station wpxi reported
the mcmutries had waged days long campaign that included barrage of messages
on the social networking website facebook and endless tweets on twitter to
persuade the pittsburgh authorities to come for the children
us authorities gave the green light on monday to allow haitian orphans to enter
the country legally so they could receive the care they needed in the wake of
tuesday magnitude quake
they also relaxed the adoption rules so that us parents adopting children from
haiti would not have to wait for final paperwork or passports from the haitian
government
german pirate skull snatched from museum police
hamburg germany jan afp
nail pierced skull believed to belong to the legendary pirate klaus
stoertebeker has been stolen from museum in the northern german port city of
hamburg authorities said tuesday
we have opened larceny probe spokesman for the hamburg police said
it was not immediately clear how and when the cranium vanished but staff at the
hamburg history museum reported it missing on january
the skull impaled on large rusty nail was discovered in during
construction for warehouse district in an area where pirates had earlier been
beheaded and their heads displayed on spikes as grisly warning
the museum had long displayed the cranium which was already missing jawbone
as belonging to stoertebeker who is believed to have been executed in with
henchmen outside the walls of the hanseatic league city
later forensic analysis determined that the skull may well belong to man
beheaded around although not necessarily stoertebeker
the museum tried in vain in to produce definitive link to stoertebeker
with dna analysis comparing genetic material from the cranium with that of
possible descendants
stoertebeker old german for tip up the mug earned his name for his fabled
carousing after lengthy reign of terror on the north seas he was captured
off the helgoland archipelago and taken to hamburg to be executed
urgent nigerian vp orders troops into strife torn jos security chief
abuja jan afp
nigeria vice president goodluck jonathan has ordered troops into the city of
jos top security aide said tuesday after fresh clashes between muslims and
christians left nearly people dead
us seeks eu support on airport body scanners
madrid jan afp
the us will urge the eu to endorse the installation of airport body scanners at
talks in spain thursday in the wake of last month failed airline bomb plot
us homeland security secretary janet napolitano and eu interior ministers
meeting in the central city of toledo would discuss the use of the full body
scanners which are seen by some as violation of privacy
the united states has accelerated the installation of body scanners at its
airports since the attempted attack on christmas day on trans atlantic jet
bound for detroit from amsterdam and it would like the eu to follow its lead
speaking in brussels ahead of the informal meeting us official said
napolitano believes that detection technologies are one tool among many that
governments can use responsibly to ensure that no one boards an aircraft with
dangerous material
this is meeting to build consensus this is not for secretary napolitano to
impose anything all our citizens are potentially at risk and so we collectively
need to work on the challenge the official added
britain and the netherlands have already installed the scanners france and
italy plan to try out the devices while the czech republic has said it is in
favour of the technology
but some nations such as germany are more cautious and number have said they
will not take decision on the issue until the eu adopts bloc wide stance
at the moment we are looking for common position an eu diplomat said
spanish prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero whose country holds the
rotating presidency of the eu said madrid would work to reach consensus
position for all nations which make up the bloc
and it is probable that this common position will head in the direction of
reinforcing security and control of passengers at airports he said in an
interview published sunday in top selling spanish daily el pais
the botched christmas day jetliner bombing has forced us to consider
reinforcing air transport security he added
year old nigerian umar farouk abdulmutallab has been accused with trying
to detonate bomb on the flight to detroit and has been charged with the
attempted murder of people he has pleaded not guilty
napolitano will face an uphill battle to get all eu nations to agree to install
the scanners
the outgoing european commission dropped plans to introduce the scanners europe
wide in following complaints from the assembly that they violated privacy
rights and could impact on human health
incoming justice commissioner viviane reding has said she is opposed to the use
of the scanners without strict guarantees on privacy while eu transport
commissioner nominee slim kallas has said he has reservations on their use
because of health and privacy concerns
even those who are in favour of use of the scanners want conditions to be
attached such as the destruction of the images
in the united states passengers who do not wish to go through the scanners can
choose to be body searched as an alternative
napolitano visit to spain comes amidst controversy over the use by the fbi
of photograph of left wing spanish lawmaker gaspar llamazares to create
digitally enhanced image showing what osama bin laden might look like today
the incident has revived concerns over the threat to privacy posed by us
security measures
my question is what would have happened had it not been llamazares if it had
been public official who was less well known an anonymous citizen setting
foot in an airport could have been scared because these people first shoot and
ask questions afterwards said llamazares deputy with the united left
coalition
over billion dollars pledged for haiti quake aid un data
geneva jan afp
more than billion dollars have been pledged in aid funding to haiti which
is struggling to recover from last week deadly earthquake united nations data
showed tuesday
individuals countries companies and international organisations have all dug
deep into their pockets while others have helped by deploying experts or
sending tonnes of relief items to the country the united nations office for the
coordination of humanitarian affairs said on its website
rugbyu voice of rugby mclaren dead at
london jan afp
legendary rugby union television commentator bill mclaren has died at the age of
the bbc announced on tuesday
the bbc said mclaren had died at gmt on tuesday in the community hospital in
his hometown of hawick in the scottish borders
mclaren became known as the voice of rugby to generations of british fans
during career spanning nearly years
he retired in having first broadcast on bbc radio in when still
reporter on the hawick express newspaper
such was the global standing of the bbc during his career that mclaren voice
also became well known to rugby followers around the world
renowned for his distinctive voice and impartiality mclaren combined his work
as broadcaster with that of physical education teacher up until and
coached the likes of future scotland internationals jim renwick colin deans and
tony stanger
mclaren born in was good enough player to be selected for hawick then
one of scotland leading clubs before world war ii
after war service in the british army he played in scotland trial in and
was close to full international cap as flanker when he contracted
tuberculosis disease that nearly killed him
was desperately ill and fading fast when the specialist asked five of us to
be guinea pigs for new drug called streptomycin mclaren said in
three of the others died but made what amounted to miracle recovery
mclaren was meticulous in his preparation for every match he broadcast listing
every conceivable detail of interest about players and officials on giant
piece of foolscap paper his big sheet which he would lay out in front of
his microphone
he was already planning his future career while young child
ve still got the fictional reports used to write when was wee boy of
seven or eight he once said scotland always won they beat the world once by
former scotland captain gavin hastings who broadcast alongside mclaren said
bill was very proud and passionate scot but such was his professionalism that
you would never really have known that
he always remained very unbiased in his commentary and think that was
unquestionably one of his endearing qualities he was just such gentleman as
well
scotland first minister alex salmond added the world of sport and
broadcasting has lost true legend with the passing of bill mclaren
he thoroughly deserved the title voice of rugby and was fantastic
ambassador for scotland and his native hawick right around the world his
contribution to the sport of rugby cannot be over stated
such was the esteem in which mclaren whose speciality after someone scored
try or matchwinning penalty was to say they will be dancing in the streets of
the player hometown was held in he became the first man who hadn
played test to be inducted into the international rugby hall of fame
mclaren received several national honours for his work including cbe
commander of the order of the british empire
cbe is one rank below knighthood and last year mclaren was the subject of an
internet campaign calling for him to be knighted
his son in law alan lawson played for scotland and two of mclaren
grandchildren gloucester and scotland scrum half rory lawson and edinburgh back
jim thompson are current professional players
eu to examine us style bank tax
brussels jan afp
europe will examine swedish proposal to introduce europe wide tax on banks
similar to new us scheme in bid to fix broken public finances and build
buffer against future financial crises
spanish finance minister elena salgado chairing brussels meeting of
counterparts from the european union members told reporters that the idea
was already on the agenda for an informal meeting in madrid in april
finance minister anders borg had earlier presented in letter to peers his
plans to impose bloc wide levy which he said would pay for the impact
financial sector rescue measures have had on our public finances
borg said the eu could no longer accept the situation where the banks are
running away from the bill
he said this is something that has been introduced in the united states and
we already have similar system in sweden
this is tax fee that could bring substantial revenues for dealing with the
public finance situation but also to take care of future banking crises
german finance minister wolfgang schaeuble expressed interest in such an idea on
monday while his french counterpart christine lagarde said she saw merit in
an insurance policy for systemic risks to the european economy
outgoing tax commissioner laszlo kovacs deemed the plan technically feasible
and politically possible but warned that problem remained with rules that
mean tax matters are reserved for national decision making across the eu
would not bet lot of money on the introduction of this new tax he said
borg idea involves levy on final balance sheets different from tax on
individual transactions as mooted since the that he said would get
round the problem of banks moving to more favourable locations
you can move your balance sheet out of the country so it much more
logical model he inisted
he said the swedish model introduced in comes in at percent of
final balance sheets
the advantages are obvious compared to transaction or turnover tax he said
smaller liabilities are encouraged as they incur lower actual fee
britain chancellor alistair darling told the scotsman newspaper at the weekend
that london would not match president barack obama plans to recover every
single dime taxpayers shelled out to rescue wall street
alert
nigeria vice president orders troops into strife torn jos security chief
kraft foods world second largest food group
new york jan afp
here are key facts about kraft foods the us food and beverages giant that
announced tuesday takeover agreement with the board of british candy maker
cadbury according to company data
the world second largest food company after swiss giant nestle
founded in when jl kraft started selling cheese from horse drawn wagon
products sold in about countries
in us products in more than percent of households
of brands more than are at least years old
brands include kraft cheeses and macaroni and cheese oscar mayer meats
philadelphia cream cheeses jell gelatin maxwell house jacobs and carte
noire coffees nabisco cookies biscuits and crackers oreo and lu cookies and
milka and toblerone chocolates
annual revenues of billion dollars in with more than percent from
products that hold the leading share position in their categories net profit of
billion dollars
headquartered in northfield illinois chicago suburb kraft has
employees and manufacturing and processing facilities worldwide
member of the blue chip dow jones industrial average
bought by tobacco giant philip morris in kraft and general foods
corporation combined to form kraft general foods
philip morris bought nabisco maker of oreo cookies which becomes part of
kraft foods in
philip morris changed name to altria group in spins off kraft in
kraft bought global cookie business of french firm groupe danone in
acquiring the lu brand
agreed to sell post cereal business for billion dollars in to ralcorp
holdings
sold north american pizza business to nestle for billion dollars on
january saying it would use the proceeds to improve its bid for
cadbury
announced agreement with cadbury on january to acquire the british
confectioner in deal valued at about billion pounds billion
dollars
football redknapp reveals van nistelrooy interest
london jan afp
tottenham hotspur manager harry redknapp said tuesday he was pondering bringing
real madrid striker ruud van nistelrooy back to the premier league in loan
move
the year old former manchester united forward is struggling to get into
real first team and his lack of match practice is threatening his chances of
making the dutch squad for this year world cup finals in south africa
however it would appear russia striker roman pavlyuchenko would have to leave
spurs to make room for van nistelrooy who was most recently linked with turkish
giants galatasaray and whom he declared an interest in joining
it interesting but it depends what the deal is said redknapp on tuesday of
the possibility of van nistelrooy coming to white hart lane
the chairman would deal with that side but he an interesting player he was
fantastic in england and great goalscorer
if he was available it could be of interest it not impossible if it was
right we could be interested added redknapp ahead of wednesday league match
against liverpool
on the subject of pavlyuchenko redknapp said pav is looking to move he was
tremendous in training this morning only if someone came in and it was good
offer though otherwise it would not be possible
pavlyuchenko chance of move have dimmed of late with spartak moscow refusing
to pay million pounds and zenit st petersburg have cooled on the idea of
taking the forward on loan
meanwhile redknapp denied he made an approach to manchester united for
goalkeeper ben foster
as for foster never made any offer whatsoever ben good keeper but
looking for back up foster and david james the portsmouth goalkeeper who has
been linked with spurs want to go to world cup not sit on the bench as
number two
urgent over billion dollars pledged for haiti quake aid un data
geneva jan afp
more than billion dollars have been pledged in aid funding to haiti which
is struggling to recover from last week deadly earthquake united nations data
showed tuesday
football xavi confident guardiola will renew barcelona contract
madrid jan afp
barcelona midfielder xavi hernandez said tuesday he was confident that coach
josep guardiola will renew his contract with the european champions before it
expires at the end of the season
can imagine barca without guardiola he is fundamental part of the team
and think the extension of his contract is imminent but it depends on him
said the year old spanish international
we would like him to extend his contract but it is up to him think he wants
to stay that he feels at home here he is possibly the best coach in the
history of the club and he has only been here one year
guardiola who turned on monday took over from dutchman frank rijkaard in
june after being promoted from his job as coach of barcelona side
under his guidance during the season the catalan side won the champions
league spanish league the kings cup the spanish supercup and the european
supercup
last month barcelona also won the club world cup final with win over
argentine side estudiantes
russia forms new mostly muslim district
moscow jan afp
russian president dmitry medvedev merged tuesday seven mostly muslim regions
into new district and appointed powerful new envoy in bid to boost
development to the troubled area
the reform reorganised the kremlin control over its southern region
separating out the north caucasus area where moscow is battling low level
islamist insurgency from more stable parts
medvedev appointed as envoy of the area which includes chechnya the current
governor of the krasnoyarsk region alexander khloponin who will also hold the
title of deputy prime minister under vladimir putin
document was signed by me today appointing you as the presidential envoy
to the north caucasus federal district medvedev told khloponin in
comments broadcast on state television
the new federal district includes chechnya dagestan ingushetia kabardino
balkaria karachayevo cherkessia north ossetia and the stavropol region with
its regional capital in pyatigorsk
khloponin former businessman and trained economist served on the board of
directors of norilsk nickel from to he was elected governor of
krasnoyarsk region in and is member of the ruling united russia party
medvedev hailed khloponin successful experience in krasnoyarsk and said he
hoped his appointment would boost economic development in the north caucasus
where unemployment is rife and low level insurgency has picked up in recent
months
so far our economic projects are proving very difficult there is mass
unemployment economic crimes and bribe taking medvedev said acknowledging
that khloponin faced very difficult task
the president previously had different envoys to the seven federal districts
canada pm shuffles cabinet
ottawa jan afp
prime minister stephen harper on monday announced new cabinet to lead the last
leg of canada economic recovery over the coming year following the retirement
of long time lawmaker
this is an experienced team that will stay the course on our government
stimulus plan while working to ensure canada emerges from the recession with
stronger economy to meet tomorrow challenges harper said
the cabinet shuffle involved only dozen ministers and key portfolios remained
with veterans such as finance minister jim flather and defense minister peter
mackay
the changes were sparked by the departure of veterans affairs minister greg
thompson who announced over the weekend that he was leaving politics he will be
replaced by jean pierre blackburn
cabinet newcomer keith ashfield will take over for blackburn as the new national
revenue minister
