arm to avoid an institutional crisis borisov said he did not have any
reasons to relieve her of her ministerial duties
jeleva came under fire from members of the european parliament during
confirmation hearing last week over her competence for the post of eu
humanitarian aid commissioner and also over alleged gaps in her declaration of
financial interests
sofia swiftly proposed world bank vice president kristalina georgieva as its new
nominee for eu commissioner seeking to avoid diplomatic fallout
barroso welcomed the swift reaction of the bulgarian government to this
situation adding in statement that the process of putting together his new
commission team should now continue
however eu parliament president jerzy buzek confirmed in strasbourg that the
february schedule for new commission team was now untenable
if barroso backs georgieva after talks with her over the next two days she
will be quizzed on february by the parliament which will deliver its opinion
six days later buzek told reporters
barroso was already delayed in forming his new team in november due to problems
in ratifying the eu reform lisbon treaty leaving the old commissioners doing
overtime
the row over jeleva could also open pandora box for the commission as it
split the parliamentary groups along political lines
the socialist group in the eu assembly the second biggest bloc which led the
criticism against jeleva said her decision to withdraw had been inevitable
after such poor performance in the parliamentary hearing which highlighted
her incompetence this outcome was both inevitable and predictable said
socialist leader martin schulz
jeleva own political family in the parliament the centre right european
people party epp has complained about witch hunt amid allegations her
husband has mafia links and that she failed to declare involvement in the
bulgarian firm global consult
hope that the political groups who have been attacking mrs jeleva and her
family with unfounded and slanderous allegations since her nomination to the
commission was announced will cease this hostile and aggressive behaviour
said epp chairman joseph daul
the conservative meps have spoken of the possibility of tit for tat campaign
against socialist eu commissioner perhaps slovakia maros sefcovic accused
of anti roma statements in
over the last week and half the parliament has questioned all commission
nominees
jeleva was not the only one to face tough grilling the eu foreign policy
chief catherine ashton also failed to impress yet it was clear the bulgarian
pick posed the biggest hurdle to barroso new executive team taking shape
report by the parliament legal experts did not reveal any problems with
jeleva last financial declaration though it did suggest problems with
versions she lodged while member of the assembly from
however by then the focus had switched firmly to her ability to hold down the
humanitarian and crisis aid portfolio which will take in the eu response to
the massive earthquake in haiti
cricket india ipl auction shuns pakistan stars
mumbai jan afp
pakistani cricketers will not feature in the third edition of the indian premier
league this year after being ignored by franchises at the players auction on
tuesday
none of the pakistanis who went under the hammer including flamboyant all
rounder shahid afridi were sold despite their national team being the reigning
world twenty champions
pakistani cricketers took part in the ipl inaugural season in but were
denied permission by islamabad to play last year due to growing political
tensions with india
multi millionaire owners of the eight clubs who attended the auction declined
to comment on why the pakistanis were kept out
but franchise official who preferred to remain unnamed told afp that he was
not surprised
we were not sure if the pakistanis will get visas and we did not want players
who won be available he said besides there is also the security issue no
one was willing to take chance
afridi told afp from australia where he is featuring in the domestic
twenty competition that pakistani players were humiliated
we applied for the ipl only on their insistence and not on our own
pakistan sports minister aijaz hussain jakhrani told afp he had complained to
his indian counterpart over the unjust and discriminatory treatment meted out
to the pakistani cricketers
sohail tanveer who helped the rajasthan royals win the inaugural ipl title in
was equally bemused
we have been in demand and made lot of friends in the first edition but this
is disappointing that we were first asked to apply and then not included in the
bidding said tanveer
pakistan cricket board pcb chairman ijaz butt said that tuesday snub
depressed him
it is really very disappointing because we cleared all the hurdles in the
players way over visas and clearance will definitely talk to ipl
chairman lalit modi on this issue he said
of total of players up for bid only were sold with west indian all
rounder kieron pollard and new zealand fast bowler shane bond drawing the
highest prices at dollars each
pollard was picked up by mumbai indians owned by india richest industrialist
mukesh ambani while bond went to bollywood star shahrukh khan kolkata knight
riders
another west indian kemar roach attracted dollars from champions
deccan chargers promising south african paceman wayne parnell was sold to delhi
daredevils for dollars
the auction was held for cricketers not already linked with any ipl team and was
limited to the third edition which will be held across india from march to
april
from onwards when the number of teams will be increased from eight to
fresh auction will be held for all cricketers for three year term
other star players who were ignored at the auction were australian test wicket
keeper brad haddin england spinner graeme swann west indian ramnaresh sarwan
and bangladesh captain shakib al hasan
list of players auctioned
kieron pollard wis to mumbai indians for dollars
shane bond nzl to kolkata knight riders for dollars
kemar roach wis to deccan chargers for dollars
wayne parnell rsa to delhi daredevils for dollars
mohammad kaif ind to kings xi punjab for dollars
eoin morgan eng to bangalore royal challengers for dollars
damien martyn aus to rajasthan royals for dollars
justin kemp rsa to chennai super kings for dollars
thissara perera sri to chennai super kings for dollars
adam voges aus to rajasthan royals for dollars
yusuf abdulla rsa to kings xi punjab for dollars
note desks
washington
quake near caymans pls do quick factual paras dm
magnitude
date time
tuesday january at utc
tuesday january at am at epicenter
time of earthquake in other time zones
location
depth km miles set by location program
regioncayman islands region
distances km miles ese of george town cayman islands
km miles wnw of montego bay jamaica
km miles of cienfuegos cuba
km miles of miami florida
location uncertaintyhorizontal km miles depth fixed by location
program
parametersnst nph dmin km rmss sec gp
type teleseismic moment magnitude mw version
source
usgs neic wdcs
event idus rrbc
indian firm readies bid for fiat plant report
milan jan afp
india reva electric car company is preparing joint bid with italian private
equity firm cape natixis for sicilian car plant owned by italian automaker
fiat dow jones newswires reported tuesday
reva and cape natixis are finalising memorandum of understanding to make an
offer for termini imerese plant in northern sicily that fiat wants to shut
down cape natixis was quoted as saying
the equity firm said in an mail that it hoped to sign the mou by january
fiat chief executive sergio marchionne announced plans to close the plant as
cost cutting measure last june
hundreds of fiat workers went on strike last wednesday to protest the company
decision but marchionne said the move was irreversible
dow jones newswires contributed to this report
eu seeks powers to check national debt data
brussels jan afp
the european commission sought permission tuesday to check data sent by eu
governments concerning their deficits to avoid repeat of cases like that of
greece accused of playing down its debt
the eu executive arm will propose next month that the bloc statistics
office eurostat be allowed to carry out audits on information provided by
national governments economic and monetary affairs commissioner joaquin almunia
said
he made the remarks to reporters following meeting of european union finance
ministers focused largely on the greek debt crisis
brussels made similar request in but the member countries opposed it out
of concern that eurostat would be able to police their national accounts
it not enough have notification from the national budgetary authorities
almunia said today hope that they will want eurostat to play an active
surveillance role
we need to get these new competencies he added
swedish finance minister anders borg condemned tuesday the national debt
mountain in greece and economic mis reporting as fraudulent and cost for
the whole of europe
wall street drifts as market mulls corporate political news
new york jan afp
new york share prices drifted higher at the open tuesday as the market digested
news of takover in the chocolate business and big loss from citigroup while
eyeing key us senate election
the dow jones industrial average rose points percent to in
the first trades as wall street reopened after three day holiday weekend
the nasdaq composite rose points percent to and the
standard amp poor index added points percent to
the market opened after news that british chocolate bar maker cadbury agreed to
sweetened takeover bid from us giant kraft foods in multibillion dollar deal
to create leader in food and confectionery
also in focus battered financial giant citigroup said it suffered net loss of
billion dollars in the fourth quarter of resulting in full year loss
of billion dollars which executives said indicated progress is reviving the
banking firm
al goldman at wells fargo advisors said the market is also on edge ahead of the
results of senate race in massachusetts as it has important political
implications no matter who wins
he said win by the republican challenger would probably be well received by
the market as investors favor congressional gridlock
us troops land at haiti presidential palace afp witness
port au prince jan afp
us troops descended by helicopter to take control of haiti ruined presidential
palace tuesday afp reporters saw as the military earthquake relief operation
gathered pace
around paratroopers from the nd airborne division arrived in at least four
choppers to secure the executive mansion once elegant white building in the
devastated city center now surrounded by vast refugee camp
the arrival was the most spectacular deployment so far in the us military
operation to bring relief to port au prince but was not welcomed by some in the
crowd who saw the arrival as an affront to haitian sovereignty
haven seen the americans in the streets giving out water and food but now
they come to the palace said wilson guillaume as some of the homeless living
rough in the champ de mars square before the palace shouted abuse
it an occupation the palace is our power our face our pride said feodor
desanges
football injured togo goalkeeper responding well after shooting
johannesburg jan afp
togo goalkeeper kodjovi obilale injured in shooting attack against his team
in angola is responding well to treatment but remains hospitalised in
johannesburg spokeswoman said tuesday
his condition is stable and he is responding well to treatment said erin
smylie spokeswoman for milpark hospital private facility
she could not say when the year old might be released from the hospital
obilale was shot in the back and abdomen on january when separatists
guerrillas in the angolan enclave of cabinda opened fire on togo convoy as
they entered the country to compete in the africa cup of nations
the team assistant coach and its squad spokesman were killed in the shooting
which prompted togo to withdraw from the competition
cricket pakistan sports minister complains over ipl snub
karachi jan afp
pakistan sports minister said tuesday he had complained to his indian
counterpart after pakistani cricketers were snubbed at an auction for the third
edition of the indian premier league
eleven players from pakistan including flamboyant all rounder shahid afridi
were up for grabs for franchises looking to fill out their teams for the
lucrative league to be held across india from march to april
but none of them were snapped up despite pakistan being the reigning world
twenty champions the snub comes amid simmering political tensions between
historic rivals pakistan and india
have phoned the sports minister of india and recorded protest over the
unjust and discriminatory treatment meted out to the pakistani cricketers
sports minister aijaz hussain jakhrani told afp
it is indeed matter of disrespect of pakistani heroes who are the champions
of twenty world cup he said
pakistani ministries of sports interior and foreign affairs had given
political and security clearance to pakistani players in time to play
although ipl club owners declined to comment on why the pakistanis were kept
out one franchise official said uncertainty over the pakistani players visas
and security fears could have been factor
pakistani players said they felt humiliated
we applied for the ipl only on their insistence and not on our own afridi
told afp from australia where he is featuring in the domestic twenty
competition
afridi was one of pakistani players who featured in the inaugural edition of
the ipl in pakistan sohail tanveer helped the rajasthan royals win that
title and finished as the best bowler
we have been in demand and made lot of friends in the first edition but this
is disappointing that we were first asked to apply and then not included in the
bidding said tanveer
pakistani cricketers were denied permission by islamabad to play in the second
ipl edition last year due to growing political tensions with india after the
november attacks on india financial hub mumbai
the pakistan cricket board pcb did however clear the players to take part in
this year ipl but the delay in securing indian visas created an obstacle
with approval only coming through at the last minute
as the champions of twenty pakistani players deserved to be in the ipl but
the latest situation is disappointing pcb chief operating officer wasim bari
told afp
bari refused to comment on whether the ipl snub will further damage the
relationship between the pcb and the board of control for cricket in india
which tends to mirror relations between rivals india and pakistan
yachting alinghi yacht sails off spain amid doubt over cup
valencia spain jan afp
swiss defender alinghi giant catamaran took to the water for the first time
off eastern spain on friday ahead of the team planned america cup face off
with us challenger oracle next month
alinghi sailed for about two hours off the port of valencia steered by the
syndicate owner ernesto bertarelli
the formal training programme for the crew is to begin on saturday
the swiss biotech billionaire also used the event to launch new attack on
oracle which took alinghi to court on wednesday charging the swiss team had
infringed the competition nationality rules by allegedly using us made sails
our sails are rooted in swiss technology and they have been constructed in
villeneuve switzerland bertarelli said
should the american justice system outlaw their use it would be like asking
roger federer to defend his title without using his tennis racquet oracle would
win the america cup in court as without our sails we cannot race
the americans have indicated that if the supreme court of the state of new york
rules in their favour they would give alinghi the time to make new sails
delaying the scheduled february start of their duel to decide the rd
america cup
alinghi and oracle have been arguing over the rules of the america cup in
court since alinghi won the last edition of the world most prestigious
yachting event in valencia in
the new york court ruled in april that the cup should be settled by one on one
multihull duel between the two sides next february instead of the traditional
fully fledged regatta involving several teams
it also ruled last month that the event must be held in valencia rejecting an
appeal by alinghi which favoured the gulf emirate of ras al khaimah
corrected spain sends ship with troops to help haiti
madrid jan afp
spain is to send ship with troops to haiti to help the victims of last
week devastating earthquake madrid defence minister said on tuesday
the castilla logistical support vessel equipped to set up an bed field
hospital will leave spain on saturday carme chacon told journalists in the
northeast city of zaragoza
the contingent includes strong medical team with surgeons as well as
three helicopters and fast launches
with looting and violence on the streets of port au prince part of the troops
task will be to ensure the safety of the medical staff
the haitian authorities believe january magnitude earthquake has killed
at least people injured quarter of million and left million
homeless
spain has already sent around dozen planes carrying aid to haiti
urgent us troops land at haiti presidential palace afp witness
port au prince jan afp
us troops descended by helicopter to take control of haiti ruined presidential
palace tuesday afp reporters saw as the military earthquake relief operation
gathered pace
greece to offer citizenship to second generation immigrants
athens jan afp
greece is taking steps to offer citizenship to over second generation
immigrants living under doubtful residence status for years but the measure has
divided greek political parties
the new policy which the government is still finalising after posting the draft
bill online for comments enables the children of migrants legally living in
greece for at least five years to acquire greek citizenship
prime minister george papandrou on monday insisted the new policy which has
upset the right wing opposition would guarantee social peace and cohesion
while rights and migrant groups have welcomed the proposed reforms
the reform is real relief that finally offers the promise of integration
the chairman of the union of african women loretta makolei originally from
sierra leone told afp
we want to eliminate the current absurdity and protect migrants whose status
is in doubt adds andreas takis general secretary for immigration at the
citizen protection ministry
thousands of migrant children many of whom have known no other homeland but
greece currently live in legal limbo and face severe employment difficulties
upon leaving university
naturalisation currently requires stay of at least ten years but is costly
complicated by endless red tape and offers no guarantee of approval
this is real break with the past notes dimitris christopoulos chairman of
the greek human rights union
for the first time the debate opens on who can be greek he told afp
the bill also empowers citizens born outside greece to stand as municipal and
regional councillors in local elections though not as mayors after at
least five years of continuous legal stay in the country
the second measure has drawn howls of protest from the small nationalist party
laos which has called for national referendum on the issue
with these policies tomorrow on most greek islands you will have mayors
elected by majority of migrants laos leader george karatzaferis told local
administration congress on monday
the main opposition new democracy party has also criticised the naturalisation
drive as too generous
we call on the government to refrain from carrying out this thoughtless mass
legalisation that lacks the prerequisites set by other european union members
new democracy leader antonis samaras said
polls show that majority of greeks favour the naturalisation of second
generation migrants but that opinion is divided on the issue of municipal
elections
in poll published on tuesday percent of respondents said the children of
legal migrants should be given greek citizenship but percent opposed the
opening of local council posts to migrants
migrants constitute around percent of greece million population
albanians are the largest group nearly third of greece migrants arrived
after the last legalisation drive in and many live on the margins of greek
society lodged in squalid housing and facing exploitation by unscrupulous
employers they are also frequent allegations of abuse by police
lebanese pm on official visit to france
beirut jan afp
lebanese prime minister saad hariri heads to france wednesday on his first
official visit to western nation since taking office with the mideast peace
process and bilateral ties topping the agenda
hariri office said the premier would meet with french president nicolas
sarkozy prime minister francois fillon foreign minister bernard kouchner and
number of other officials during his three day visit
he would also gather with french business leaders and was due to sign number
of bilateral accords in the judicial security research financial and cultural
sectors
it will be hariri first time in the west since taking office in november after
protracted talks to form new unity government between his us and saudi backed
majority and hezbollah led coalition supported by syria and iran
hariri visit also comes after his landmark trip last month to former arch foe
syria which he had accused in the past of being involved in the
assassination of his father ex premier rafiq hariri
there is symbolic dimension to this visit to france which is renewal of
french support to lebanon following the june election the formation of new
government and the fact that the country is enjoying period of stability which
is condusive to reforms france ambassador to lebanon denis pietton told
reporters
france and other donor countries have been pushing lebanon to adopt much needed
reforms in number of sectors most notably the power and telecoms sectors
lebanon electricity sector is the government third highest expenditure item
while the telecommunications sector is monopolised by the state
last month french finance minister christine lagarde announced one year
extension on million euro million dollar loan to lebanon agreed in
january pending economic reforms
pietton said paris had no plan in the immediate future to renegotiate the
conditions of the loan given the lebanese government commitment to implement
reforms
the government manifesto is very clear on the will to reform and it is up to
the lebanese government to present its proposals to us he said
the paris iii conference held after israel devastating war with hezbollah
in lebanon in helped raise billion dollars billion euros in
financial assistance from international donors
france agreed to two tranche million euro loan conditional on beirut
implementing economic reform
credit suisse to cut bonuses for top staff in city
zurich jan afp
swiss bank credit suisse said tuesday that it would reduce bonuses paid to its
top executives in london by about percent in response to tax announced last
month by british authorities
the swiss banking group will reduce bonuses paid to staff in the world by five
percent and by an additional percent for its senior executives in london
spokesman said
britain announced percent tax on bonuses above pounds euros
or dollars last month arguing that it would help recoup cash spent
rescuing the financial sector after the financial meltdown
about staff in britain would be affected the credit suisse spokesman said
without revealing the total amount of bonuses paid out by the bank in
haiti creditors push for debt cancellation
paris jan afp
major grouping of creditor countries on tuesday pushed for all of haiti
public lenders to cancel the country debts to help it recover from the massive
damage of last week earthquake
given the financial needs haiti will have to face for its reconstruction the
paris club creditors call on other bilateral creditors to cancel all of haiti
debt it said in statement citing its deep compassion for the victims
the paris club has cited non members venezuela and taiwan as two other big
public lenders to the impoverished caribbean nation and urged them to cancel its
debts
the international monetary fund told afp that haiti owed million dollars to
venezuela its biggest bilateral lender as of september and the second
biggest was taiwan owed about million dollars
the paris club an informal grouping of governments from rich countries that
have made public loans to other states last year agreed to cancel all the
million dollars million euros owed by haiti to its members
these countries include britain canada france germany japan and the united
states
the world bank top development lender and the international monetary fund
imf last summer approved billion dollars of debt relief for haiti which
was already suffering from the effects of floods and high food prices
in the wake of the quake the two multilateral institutions moved to provide
emergency financing
the imf last week said it would provide million dollars in emergency
financing after the quake
the world bank also announced an emergency million dollar package for haiti
and its president robert zoellick said last week it aimed to set up
reconstruction fund for long term assistance
canada central bank keeps pct key lending rate
ottawa jan afp
the bank of canada on tuesday maintained its key lending rate at percent
in accordance with an earlier commitment to keep the historically low level
through mid
alert
us troops land at haiti presidential palace afp witness
us missile strike kills three in pakistan officials
miranshah pakistan jan afp
us drone missile attack tuesday killed at least three suspected militants in
the th such strike targeting pakistan northwest taliban stronghold this
month officials said
the strike took place at pm gmt in degan village kilometres
miles west of miranshah the main town of the tribal north waziristan district
and known hub of taliban and al qaeda linked militants
two missiles fired by us drone hit compound which was being used by
militants killing three rebels senior security official in the area said
another security official confirmed the hit and casualties saying that the
nationalities of those killed was not yet known
it is also not clear if any high value target was present in the area at the
time of the attack he said adding that the death toll may rise
volley of drone strikes has hit the northwest this month all targeting north
waziristan bastion of al qaeda fighters the taliban and the haqqani network
football new owners outline olympic vision of hammers future
london jan afp
david sullivan and david gold on tuesday outlined plans to move west ham into
the new stadium being built for the olympics in london as the centrepiece
of plan to revive the fortunes of the troubled premier league club
the former birmingham owners have been granted full operational control of west
ham after acquiring percent stake in move they admitted only made sense
to them as lifelong supporters of the east london club
sullivan also secured an option to buy the remaining percent at any time in
the next four years but revealed that he would prefer to attract other wealthy
west ham fans to join him in investing in club which has been financially
crippled by the fallout from the credit crunch and its impact on its former
icelandic owners
the new owners revealed that west ham financial problems were so severe that
player or players worth eight million pounds would have had to be sold this
month if they had not come in and rescheduled the most pressing debts
we can reassure fans who were terrified that they were going to lose two or
three of our best players that that is not going to happen gold said
sullivan admitted the investment could not be justified from business
perspective
we wouldn be buying this club at all if it was not west ham he said it
makes no commercial sense at all but we can sort it out because that is what we
are good at
sullivan and gold acquisition of percent stake values the club at
million pounds million dollars only fractionally more than its
outstanding debts which sullivan said now stood at million pounds
that includes million pounds owed to banks and million owed to other clubs
for transfers
despite the debt the new owners are committed to providing manager gianfranco
zola with funds to strengthen squad fighting for survival in the premier
league
we realise as fans that the club needs few additions sullivan said we ve
got mass of midfielders but we are short in virtually every other position
particularly strikers
the centrepiece of the new owners strategy for reviving the club is move from
their current capacity home at upton park to the nearby olympic stadium
if we could get this huge ground we could take football back to the people
sullivan said we could reduce the admission prices to the cheapest in the
premier league because we would have the capacity to do it
