move to the olympic venue would require green light from the british
government which pledged to adapt the million pound stadium into venue
capable of hosting major athletics events as part of its successful bid to
secure the games
sullivan however said that he thought there was better than chance of
the government agreeing to let west ham become tenants of the stadium and
suggested that it could be cheaper to build new track and field venue
elsewhere with upton park possible option
gold and sullivan are to become joint chairmen on the new west ham board with
former birmingham managing director karren brady the most high profile woman in
english football serving as vice chair
the new owners stake was acquired from cb holdings company headed by
icelandic bank straumur which took control of west ham in june on behalf of
creditors of the club former owner bjorgolfur gudmundsson
among those sullivan hopes will be willing to take minority stake are tony
fernandes the chief executive of airasia and the boss of the lotus formula one
team who pulled out of the race to buy controlling interest late on monday
the malaysian businessman posted message on twitter which read deal lost on
west ham hopefully new owners protect what good
sullivan and gold have been working towards takeover of west ham since leaving
birmingham in november following the sale of their controlling interest in that
club to hong kong businessman carson yeung
sullivan made it clear that the positions of zola and his assistant steve clarke
were safe despite west ham currently languishing in th place in the top
flight table with only goal difference keeping them out of the relegation zone
we appointed four managers and parted company with two in years at
birmingham he said we believe in our managers and give them the time and
support they need
four die in algiers gas explosion
algiers jan afp
gas explosion killed four people and partially destroyed an apartment block in
the algerian capital on tuesday the city emergency services said
fourteen people were injured several seriously in the blast in algiers climat
de france district
two men and two women were reported killed but the toll remains provisional
because of the serious condition of several of the injured taken to hospitals
civil protection officer told the state aps news agency
the blast occurred on the top floor of three storey building badly damaging
two apartments as well as three illegally constructed homes on the terrace aps
said
citi loses billion dollars in quarter
new york jan afp
battered financial giant citigroup said tuesday it suffered net loss of
billion dollars in the fourth quarter of resulting in full year loss of
billion dollars
citigroup said its fourth quarter revenues were billion dollars or
billion dollars excluding repayment of government bailout loan down from
billion dollars in the prior quarter
the quarterly result amounted to loss of cents share in line with
forecast by wall street analysts
citigroup which is the last of the major money center banks operating in the
shadow of us government bailout last month repaid some billion dollars to
the authorities
it repurchased preferred shares from us treasury investment in the company
through the troubled asset relief program tarp massive billion dollar
effort to stabilize the financial system but the government still holds major
stake in citi from having converted some of its investment to common shares
citigroup said provision for loan losses in the fourth quarter was billion
dollars down percent from the prior year and percent from the previous
quarter
chief executive vikram pandit said series of steps were taken to get the
house in order citing improved capital strength reduction in company size
and staff refocused business strategy and overhauling risk management that cut
costs by over billion dollars annually
as we enter we are strongly capitalized significantly more efficient
and are executing on clear strategy that is focused on clients he said
pandit said that in the near term the company would continue to focus on
sustainable profitability and growth and supporting the global economic
recovery
john gerspach citigroup chief financial officer said although the company
remained cautious and continued to monitor the future impacts of its loss
mitigation efforts there were indications that credit may be stabilizing or
improving particularly in asia and latin america
last week jpmorgan chase opened the us earnings season for banks quadrupling
its fourth quarter net earnings to billion dollars and doubling its profits
for the full year to billion dollars
its chief executive jamie dimon said he was gratified by the results but
lamented consumer credit costs remained high
norway state pension fund blacklists tobacco producers
oslo jan afp
norway state pension fund one of the world biggest investors has sold its
shares in international tobacco companies following ban proposed last year
the government said on tuesday
among the companies excluded from the fund investment universe are the
british groups british american tobacco and imperial tobacco us groups altria
philip morris and reynolds american as well as japanese company japan tobacco
in total the fund sold shares and to lesser extent bonds worth billion
kroner billion euros billion dollars at the end of according
to the latest figures from the norwatch organisation that promotes better
business ethics
the sovereign wealth fund which contains nearly all of the state revenues
from the oil industry in norway one of the world largest oil and gas
exporters holds percent of the world total stock market capitalisation
and percent of that in europe
at the end of september it was worth trillion kroner billion
euros billion dollars invested in international stocks and bonds
the fund was created to help finance the country generous welfare state system
once the wells run dry
strict ethical guidelines from the government already bar the fund from
investing in particularly inhumane weapons manufacturers and in companies
known to be involved in large scale human rights violations corruption or
environmental pollution
in april norway then finance minister kristin halvorsen proposed that tobacco
companies be included on the fund blacklist proposal later approved by
parliament
other companies linked to tobacco production even marginally could be added to
the list the finance ministry warned on tuesday
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 monday
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 canada pledges million canadian dollars for haiti aid
ottawa jan afp
canada pledged million canadian dollars million us in aid for haiti on
tuesday in response to united nations call to help the nearly three million
people affected by last week quake
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
iconic chocolate maker cadbury loses independence
london jan afp
cadbury acceptance tuesday of multi billion dollar takeover by us giant
kraft foods ends almost two centuries of independence for the british chocolate
maker born out of humble beginnings
cadbury which began as small grocer shop in birmingham central england in
has agreed to an billion pound billion euro billion
dollar takeover by kraft foods famous for its snack products
the british company founder john cadbury began his business by selling cocoa
and drinking chocolate from small shop in being quaker he wanted to
provide an alternative to alcohol
in john cadbury began manufacturing on commercial scale and later handed
over the business to his sons who moved the business to bournville near
birmingham where the group still has chocolate factory
as quakers the family worked hard at improving the social conditions of cadbury
workers creating an entire village in bournville
cadbury had launched its first solid milk chocolate for eating in and few
years later the company famous dairy milk bar was born
the company quickly expanded and began making chocolate boxes including milk
tray before buying out smaller confectionery brands such as js fry amp sons
after the second world war cadbury joined with us drinks giant schweppes in the
as it looked to expand overseas but the firms split in
prior to this in cadbury bought chewing gum brands trident and stride
the group is now based in uxbridge west of london
britain government on tuesday voiced concern about the threat of job losses in
the wake of kraft takeover there was also fears that kraft may look to change
the texture of cadbury products
bob eagle retired confectionery worker said kraft would be crazy to alter
cadbury products in line with the american market where chocolate is seen as
having grittier less creamy texture compared to cadbury produce
chocolate tastes are developed through generations and nothing illustrates this
more than the difference between the american and british market
cadbury is taste we have all grown up with and if anything it is still
growing as brand yet in america they have not taken to any of the products
one thing is for sure if kraft tried to align the tastes consumers would turn
away from both markets added eagle who represented industry body the biscuit
cake chocolate and confectionery alliance
football portsmouth court tax challenge fails
london jan afp
english premier league crisis club portsmouth moved nearer administration on
tuesday when their bid to have winding up petition from british tax
authorities struck out was rejected by judge
cash strapped portsmouth had argued the value added tax portion of its huge tax
bill was too high by as much as million pounds million dollars
but judge guy newey found against portsmouth at london high court and ruled
tax collectors her majesty revenue and customs hmrc could proceed with their
legal action
court spokesman said at the high court today tuesday mr justice newey
dismissed an application from portsmouth football club limited for winding up
petition to be struck out
further hearing to consider hmrc winding up petition will take place in due
course
that hearing is now expected on february and the outcome could send bottom
of the table pompey step closer to becoming the first premier league club to
enter administration move that would likely see them docked league points
they cannot afford to lose
portsmouth have been facing off field problems since before the start of the
season with the protracted sale of the club from alexandre gaydamak to sulaiman
al fahim hampering the south coast side ability to bring in new players
al fahim was only in charge for matter of weeks before selling on to saudi
businessman ali al faraj who has struggled to cope with the club debts and
has acquired the nickname al mirage for his absence from the ground on match
days
pompey have three times this season failed to pay their players on time and last
week saw the premier league divert seven million pounds in television revenues
to other clubs owed transfer fees by the south coast side
so concerned are the premier league they have placed portsmouth who as recently
as won the fa cup under transfer embargo
but the club bit back on monday by threatening league chiefs with arbitration
proceedings saying they had agreed payment scheduled with other clubs
portsmouth executive director mark jacob said on monday the total amount that
we directed the premier league to discharge and pay these clubs is approximately
five million pounds
so there is net balance due to the club approaching two million pounds we
cannot see how they can keep the money and also continue with the embargo
former pompey manager harry redknapp now at tottenham former chairman milan
mandaric now at leicester and chief executive peter storrie all face
individual charges of tax evasion resulting from their time at fratton park
portsmouth four points adrift at the foot of the table are at home to top
flight rivals sunderland in the fourth round of the fa cup on saturday
canadians dead missing in haiti
ottawa jan afp
canada on tuesday raised the number of canadians confirmed killed in last week
earthquake in haiti to and pared down the number of its missing nationals
to
the updated numbers released by canada foreign affairs minister lawrence
cannon bumped up the toll from confirmed deaths and canadians unaccounted
for by their families
cannon said canadians survived the quake and of them have been
repatriated aboard military aircraft returning from delivering food and medical
supplies to haiti
rugbyu attoub banned for weeks for gouging
london jan afp
stade francais prop david attoub has been hit with mammoth week ban from
rugby union for gouging after what the disciplinary chief who imposed the
penalty labelled the worst act of contact with the eyes that have had to deal
with
the ban which has been backdated to start on december means as things
stand attoub cannot play rugby again until april ruling him out of the
remainder of the current european season and most of next term campaign
it is the second most severe suspension to have been handed out for gouging
offence in the professional era exceeded only by the two year ban handed to
richard nones prop with french club colomiers in
attoub was cited for gouging ulster lock stephen ferris during stormy
european cup clash on december in belfast that the irish province won
eye gouging is regarded as one of the worst acts of foul play in the man game
and the international rugby board irb the sport global governing body have
instructed disciplinary authorities to come down hard on those found guilty of
the offence
judge jeff blackett the disciplinary supremo at england rugby football union
rfu who heard attoub case said it was the irb directive and the player
previous history of gouging which included suspension for contact with the
eye eye area in european match in the season that saw him impose
penalty which has the potential to end the forward career
blackett who found attoub guilty of the offence on friday but only passed
sentence when the disciplinary hearing reconvened on monday determined his
action was in the top end in the level of seriousness for an offence of contact
with the eye eye area
in statement issued on tuesday blackett said this is the worst act of
contact with the eyes that have had to deal with it is case of deliberate
eye gouging
the initial hearing on december was adjourned until january to allow for
more evidence to be gathered after doubts were cast on the veracity of
photographs which showed the incident
but blackett ruling made clear he accepted the images were genuine and he
delivered damning indictment of attoub conduct
when he was shown the incriminating photographs and asked to explain what he
saw or what was happening he replied that he did not know blackett said he
refused to accept the possibility that his finger was in the eye
it was this evasiveness which satisfied me that his account was less than
truthful and that he knew that he had deliberately attacked the eyes of an
opponent but was trying to evade responsibility
the ban follows week ban given to attoub team mate and scrum half julien
dupuy who also gouged ferris in the same match
dupuy who began the year as starter in the french international lineup
appealed but his ban was only cut by week
the severity of the punishments handed out to the stade duo follows crackdown
in part caused by the furore over the mere eight week ban on south africa
flanker schalk burger for gouging british and irish lions wing luke fitzgerald
during last year second test in pretoria
max guazzini the club president of paris based stade francais said attoub
would appeal against his ban and railed against what he saw as an anti french
judgement
they based their punishment on the british system guazzini told afp
we tumbled upon an over zealous judge and with an anti french bias
burger got eight weeks for the same offence attoub receives weeks where
the sense in that
rugby union traditionally operates policy of universality when it comes to
disciplinary punishments meaning ban in one tournament is applied to all
competitions
however after dupuy appeal hearing last week guazzini said he intended to
try to have the scrum half ban reduced still further at least in domestic
terms through the french rugby federation ffr and the national rugby league
lnr
guazzini could now take similar course of action in attoub case having
labelled dupuy suspension as totally unjustified
un chief urges disarmament talks to end impasse
geneva jan afp
un chief ban ki moon on tuesday urged the conference for disarmament to end an
impasse on arms control talks saying that consensus would send positive
signal
but pakistan which was blamed last year for blocking progress quickly warned
against rushing to consensus and said full exchange of views was needed
this year urge you to put aside differences and focus on the global
interest in particular the compelling need for binding legal norms and the
vital role of the conference on disarmament in building them said ban in
video message to the member states
hope you will agree on work programme as soon as possible hopefully during
this first session he said addressing the conference as it met during the
first session for in geneva
in may last year nuclear powers broke more than decade of deadlock by
agreeing on work plan for
that included full negotiations on an international ban on the production of
new nuclear bomb making material and talks on nuclear disarmament the arms
race in outer space and security assurances for non nuclear states
however they subsequently failed to agree on how the programme should be
implemented notably with pakistan citing unspecified national security concerns
to justify its refusal to accept part of the proposed structure for the talks
some diplomats had accused pakistan of using procedural issue to stall the
conference
bangladesh ambassador abdul hannan who was chairing tuesday session said
he was very confident that consensus would be found by member states
however pakistan ambassador zamir akram warned against precipitating
decision
we should not rush to decision on adoption of an agenda he said
rather frank and full exchange of views on the agenda will help us to develop
programme of work avoid any confusion during the course of the year and at
the time of the adoption of the annual report of the conference
china calls for stronger trade ties with india
beijing jan afp
china on tuesday called for stronger trade and investment ties with india
stressing the world two most populous nations were friends and not enemies
only if china and india achieve common development and prosperity could we have
real asia century premier wen jiabao told visiting indian commerce and
industry minister anand sharma according to xinhua news agency
we share broad common interests he said
wen said china would work with its neighbour to expand cooperation in trade and
investment
chinese commerce minister chen deming earlier said trade between the asian
giants should be greater
the scale and level of bilateral trade is far from enough given the size of our
two economies chen told news conference after meeting sharma
there is great potential and room for growth in investment between the two
nations
trade between china and india reached billion dollars in down from
billion dollars in accounting for about two percent of china total
global trade official figures show
earlier chen told forum on china and india trade and investment cooperation
that the asian neighbours should eliminate misunderstandings and bias and work
towards more balanced trade relationship
china and india are friendly neighbours and cooperative partners we are not
rivals nor enemies chen said
the world has enough room for cooperation between us in our pursuit for
development
india which saw its trade deficit with china increase to billion dollars in
from billion dollars in expressed concern about the trade
imbalance
balance of exports and imports is important and surplus is sometimes
difficult to deal with sharma said at the news conference
we have very frankly discussed all these issues and also the measures required
to ensure that there is balance between india and china economic
engagements
sharma said beijing had encouraged indian firms in the information technology
pharmaceutical and construction sectors to work with local partners to have
more presence and access in china
separately sharma said new delhi had agreed to double to the cap on the
number of foreign engineers and support staff working single project in india
following chinese requests
urgent us missile strike kills three in pakistan officials
miranshah pakistan jan afp
missile strike by us drone aircraft hit pakistan northwest tribal region
near the afghan border on tuesday killing at least three militants security
officials said
alert
canada pledges million canadian dollars for haiti aid
alert
us missile strike kills at least three militants in nw pakistan officials
citi loses billion dollar loss in fourth quarter
new york jan afp
battered financial giant citigroup said tuesday it suffered net loss of
billion dollars in the fourth quarter of resulting in full year loss of
billion dollars
citigroup said its fourth quarter revenues were billion dollars or
billion dollars excluding repayment of government bailout loan down from
billion dollars in the prior quarter
the quarterly result amounted to loss of cents share in line with
forecast by wall street analysts
citigroup which is the last of the major money center banks operating in the
shadow of us government bailout last month repaid some billion dollars to
the authorities
it repurchased preferred shares from us treasury investment in the company
through the troubled asset relief program tarp massive billion dollar
effort to stabilize the financial system but the government still holds major
stake in citi from having converted some of its investment to common shares
citigroup said provision for loan losses in the fourth quarter was billion
dollars down percent from the prior year and percent from the previous
quarter
chief executive vikram pandit said series of steps were taken to get the
house in order citing improved capital strength reduction in company size
and staff refocused business strategy and overhauling risk management that cut
costs by over billion dollars annually
as we enter we are strongly capitalized significantly more efficient
and are executing on clear strategy that is focused on clients he said
pandit said that in the near term the company would continue to focus on
sustainable profitability and growth and supporting the global economic
recovery
john gerspach citigroup chief financial officer said although the company
remained cautious and continued to monitor the future impacts of its loss
mitigation efforts there were indications that credit may be stabilizing or
improving particularly in asia and latin america
last week jpmorgan chase opened the us earnings season for banks quadrupling
its fourth quarter net earnings to billion dollars and doubling its profits
for the full year to billion dollars
its chief executive jamie dimon said he was gratified by the results but
lamented consumer credit costs remained high
senate election pushes obama agenda to cliff edge
boston massachusetts jan afp
voters in massachusetts went to the polls tuesday to elect new us senator in
balloting that may also determine the fate of president barack obama health
care reform and other ambitious domestic plans
the special election to fill the senate seat of the late democratic icon edward
kennedy could see republican scott brown score stunning upset against democrat
martha coakley in race she had been expected to easily win
the choice could not be more stark and the result could not be of greater
consequence for massachusetts or the nation president barack obama said in
an email to voters aimed at rallying support for coakley
the bay state can send progressive champion martha coakley to washington to
fight for everything we believe in health reform getting all of our money
back from wall street and holding corporate interests accountable
or the senate can get one more person already walking in lockstep with
washington republicans he said
as balloting got underway across the state at am gmt the latest public
policy polling survey gave brown percent of the vote to coakley percent
another poll commissioned by the politico website showed the republican ahead
percent to percent
yet another survey however showed the two candidates neck and neck hinting at
the crucial role voter turnout might play on day when meteorologists
forecast snow for parts of the state
the stakes are huge not so much for who will represent the northeastern state
but because brown victory would demolish the fragile supermajority democrats
hold in the senate enabling the party to override opposition to health care
reform and the rest of obama domestic agenda
with senate votes democrats are able to prevent republican filibusters and
push through legislation if the party ends up with only senators democrats
would need some republican support which they are unlikely to muster in the
current climate of rancorous partisan divide
the democrats alarm over the massachusetts election was evident sunday as obama
took time off from the haiti earthquake crisis and other pressing issues to
campaign in boston
incredibly obama faces this perilous situation just year after his january
inauguration when he made lofty promise of cross party cooperation
republicans who took drubbing during the presidential and general
election now believe they are poised for comeback while democrats are
fearful about their prospects
most damaging of all to the democrats would be the collapse of their bogged down
health care reform plan the party says the health care bill is almost ready to
be passed in final vote but if that th senate vote is not there obama
landmark initiative could die
democrats are racing to draw up contingency plans for rapid passage of the
health care bill in the event coakley loses in massachusetts but that would
likely provoke firestorm of republican complaints
republicans could start legal battle over the legitimacy politico reported
equally alarming for obama is the potential for this special election to herald
defeat in the nationwide mid term congressional elections in november
the president will try to regain some momentum when he addresses the nation on
january in his first state of the union address
especially troubling for democrats about the massachusetts poll is brown
popularity with independents crucial factor in many elections across the
country
registered democrats outnumber republicans three to one in massachusetts but
there are even more independents and public policy polling found that brown
leads percent to percent in that sector
coakley aired new tv campaign ad monday featuring obama appearance on sunday
in which he praised her achievements that analysts said was aimed at getting
the party base to come out and vote
the white house insists that coakley can pull off victory and that health
care reform is safe
survivor tells court of nazi death camp horrors
munich germany jan afp
one of the last survivors of the nazi death camp sobibor said tuesday he still
has nightmares about his experiences there as he testified in the trial of
alleged guard john demjanjuk
go there in my dreams they are so real in them am still there said
thomas blatt whose parents and brother were among the people
estimated to have perished there during world war ii
can get it out of my head this is the price paid for getting out
he told the court in munich southern germany that he was unable to place
demjanjuk at the camp in occupied poland but that only ukrainians like
mr demjanjuk guarded us
the ukrainians were always there they were the most important personnel in
sobibor blatt said without them the death factory wouldn have functioned
the trawnikis foreign guards were worse than the germans
lots of ukrainians ran away they were able to run away he demjanjuk was
free to go had death sentence
ukrainian born demjanjuk was deported from the united states last may and has
been on trial since november accused of being an accessory to the murder of
jews during his alleged time at sobibor in
there are no living witnesses able to positively identify demjanjuk but the
prosecution says it has an ss identity card proving he was at the trawniki
training camp for guards and that he was transferred to sobibor
prosecution lawyers are using testimony from survivors to prove that if
demjanjuk was guard at the camp then he would have played an active role in
the mass killing that took place
