costa who was killed in the temblor
brazil has commitments to the minustah un stabilization force in haiti and
they are being fulfilled he said
brazil lost citizens in the quake da costa high profile children rights
campaigner named zilda arns and peacekeepers
the latin american powerhouse has military command of the strong
nation peacekeeping mission which has been deployed in haiti since
president luiz inacio lula da silva who led commemoration for the
peacekeepers thursday is to travel to haiti in february according to his
aides
details revealed of tiger crash new video game
orlando florida jan afp
tiger woods sponsor electronic arts incorporated said thursday it will release
new tiger woods video game in june as new details about the troubled golf star
november car crash were revealed
ea sports has continued to support woods despite his admission of infidelity and
more than dozen women claiming to have had affairs with the top ranked golfer
who reportedly is undergoing treatment at sex addiction clinic
we didn form relationship with him so that he could act as an arm length
endorser ea sports president peter moore said in recent blog posting
tiger woods pga tour will be available for various game systems as the firm
joins nike in keeping its relationship with woods who has said he will take an
indefinite break from golf to repair his personal life
we stand by tiger as an athlete moore told cnbc despite what has gone on in
his personal life we ve seen no negative impact on sales
accenture and at amp have dropped endorsement contracts with woods while swiss
watchmaker tag heuer and razor blade giant gillette stopped using his image as
result of the scandal that began last november when woods crashed his vehicle
into tree and hydrant
more audio recordings were released from the police investigation into the woods
car accident which resulted only in dollar traffic fine that woods paid
the day it was issued day after police subpoena request was rejected
in the new recordings released thursday by the florida highway patrol trooper
joshua evans told dispatcher woods was not drunk or impaired by drugs and had
suffered only minor injuries
was he doing something he shouldn have been doing to cause it the
dispatcher asked
no he good evans replied
greece eu finance economy
washington jan afp
please ignore greece eu finance economy out of athens which was filed in error
this story was first filed on january
afp
us lawmakers make haiti orphans priority
washington jan afp
us relief efforts for haiti must put special focus on the tens of thousands of
orphans in the earthquake battered country lawmakers have urged us secretary
of state hillary clinton
led by senate foreign relations committee chairman john kerry democrat the
group urged clinton in letter sent wednesday and made public thursday to take
special care of some of the tragedy youngest victims
these children are already among the most vulnerable and in circumstances like
these are at even greater risk they wrote noting that there were an
estimated orphans at nearly orphanages before the catastrophe and
likely many more children left parentless by the quake
the lawmakers praised decisions to fast track already approved adoptions of
haitian orphans by us couples and for children matched to potential us adoptive
parents after the disaster
and they urged clinton to ensure that haitian orphans are high priority in
all us evacuation and relief plans work with relief organizations to channel
help to orphan children and take steps to provide temporary care and shelter
for orphans in haiti neighboring countries or the united states
the also called for coordinated exit strategy that guarantees the safety and
timely removal of these haitian orphans and delivery to their adoptive families
in the us
albanian shot dead outside madrid hotel police
madrid jan afp
an albanian man was shot dead and another seriously wounded outside four star
hotel in madrid late thursday police and emergency services said
police said the two men were in car near the entrance to the hotel puerta
madrid in the eastern district of san blas when one or more assailants opened
fire on the vehicle
one of them year old albanian national identified as dimitrios died at
the scene from gunshot wounds to his chest the other domart was in serious
condition in hospital with four gunshot wounds to his back arm and jaw
emergency services said
police said the assailant or assailants fled after the shooting they gave no
motive for the crime
spanish news reports described it as settling of scores
imf helping greece develop budget deficit slashing plan
washington jan afp
the international monetary fund has completed technical mission to greece and
is helping officials develop ways to reduce the country huge budget deficit
spokeswoman said thursday
the mission that began in athens on january has concluded imf spokeswoman
caroline atkinson said at news briefing
imf technical experts have talked to the greek authorities really focusing on
what are the technical measures where we can advise about how the authorities
can best implement the stabilization program that they have announced which is
of course between them and the eu european union she said
greece fought thursday to regain its credibility on financial markets as greek
bonds and stocks fell amid the debt crisis
finance minister george george papaconstantinou said the government priority
was regaining confidence on the markets
the greek stability plan to cut the public deficit from percent of output
in to percent in is to go before eu finance ministers for approval
on february
the proposed reduction covering central government welfare and local authority
budgets is huge by any standards amid severely strained public finances
atkinson said she expected that technical discussions with greek authorities
would continue over the coming period
we will certainly be helping them on technical basis as part of our normal
surveillance to carry that implementation we have lot of expertise on
these various matters she said
the spokeswoman reconfirmed that financial aid was not contemplated
we don expect request for financial assistance from greece she said
greek prime minister george papandreou said earlier this month there was no
way his debt stricken country would drop the euro or seek aid from the imf
central africa authorities deny killing rebel chief
bangui jan afp
authorities in the central african republic on thursday denied allegations they
had arrested tortured and killed the leader of the country only rebel group
still fighting
charles massi former minister who heads the rebel convention of patriots
for justice and peace cpjp was killed on january his wife and party have
alleged
but defence minister jean francis bozize dismissed the reports as lies
the defence ministry wishes to issue formal denial he said in statement
insisting the government has no knowledge of his whereabouts
massi was minister under ange felix patasse the president toppled in
bloodless coup by current president francois bozize in he also served as
minister in bozize administration
in may massi was arrested in southern chad and imprisoned for fraudulent
entry and attempted destabilisation of neighbouring country chad
interior minister ahmat mahamat bachir told afp at the time and was reportedly
later released
cpjp fighters clashed with the central african republic army several times in
in the northwestern ndele region
the fighting has led to population displacement and the creation of refugee
camp for about people at daha on chad side of the border
google quarterly net profit up five fold
san francisco jan afp
google on thursday posted five fold rise in quarterly net profit to
billion dollars and said annual net profit rose percent to billion
dollars
fourth quarter revenue rose percent to billion dollars the internet
giant said in statement
given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery this was
an extraordinary end to the year google chief executive eric schmidt said
as we enter we remain hugely optimistic about the internet and are
continuing to invest heavily in technological innovation for the benefit not
only of our users and customers but also the wider web schmidt said
schmidt credited google management team innovative talent and business model
as building blocks for the stellar final months of
as we enter we remain hugely optimistic about the internet and are
continuing to invest heavily in technological innovation for the benefit not
only of our users and customers but also the wider web schmidt said
in what could be good news for the economy and bode well for other internet
companies google saw percent increase in paid clicks on ads posted at
its online properties
about percent of google revenue for the quarter came from outside the
united states in what could shine an even harsher spotlight on the internet
giant threat to pull out of china over online censorship
google earnings for the quarter bested analyst expectations but the company
stock price slid more than four percent to dollars per share in trading
that followed release of the report
nigeria ex leader suggests yar adua should step aside
abuja jan afp
nigeria former president olusegun obasanjo on thursday suggested that umaru
yar adua his ailing successor who has been receiving treatment outside the
county since november should step aside
if you take up job elected and then your health starts to fail you and
you will not able to deliver to satisfy yourself and satisfy the people you are
supposed to serve then there is path of honour and path of morality
obasanjo said
it was the ex president first public statements on yar adua illness he was
answering questions at public lecture also attended by winnie mandela on
african women and politics
obasanjo handpicked yar adua to run for elections after his attempts for third
term failed
he said he knew that yar adua currently receiving treatment for heart ailment
in saudi arabia had history of kidney problems but doctors had found him
fit
obasanjo response suggested the head of state had previously had kidney
transplant
asked experts who then told me that if you were on dialysis and you are no
longer on dialysis it means you have had successful kidney transplant he
said
so to say that olusegun obasanjo deliberately picked somebody who is an
invalid is the height of insult
how can put so much to this country both in peace and war and give the
running of this country to somebody who will be running it down said obasanjo
who governed africa most populous country for eight years until
former military leader he became the first african dictator to hand over
power to an elected president in
yar adua was taken ill on november and flown to saudi arabia for specialised
treatment
the president has spent nearly days in jeddah for treatment for acute
pericarditis an inflammation of the membrane covering the heart
the opposition and critics claim yar adua prolonged absence and lack of
information on his condition have stalled government business and threatened
power vacuum
calls for the year old to step down or transfer full powers to vice president
goodluck jonathan have mounted in recent weeks
toyota recalls million us vehicles for accelerator problem
washington jan afp
toyota motor has recalled around million vehicles in the united states to
fix problem with their accelerator pedals the company us division announced
thursday
the company said the recall was to correct accelerator pedals on specific toyota
models that could in rare instances mechanically stick in partially
depressed position or return slowly to the idle position
the action was separate to an ongoing recall of approximately million toyota
and lexus vehicles that was begun last year due to risk that loose driver side
floor mats could slip forward and jam the pedals
haiti relief no impact on afghan deployments petraeus
washington jan afp
the deployment of over us troops to haiti will have no impact on the
surge of forces in afghanistan the us military commander overseeing operations
in the region said thursday
so far there been no impact whatsoever us central command chief general
david petraeus said referring to plans to ship out some additional
troops to afghanistan
virtually all the combat forces will be on the ground by the end of august
some us military personnel are currently supporting operations in haiti
and from us navy and coast guard vessels offshore as part of president barack
obama pledge to use every element of us power to help the devastated
caribbean neighbor another are expected to reach haiti on saturday
yet the relief effort is adding new pressure to military already stretched
thin
some us troops are currently deployed in iraq and afghanistan and
another are being dispatched to afghanistan as part of obama decision
to ramp up the fight against an emboldened taliban insurgency
we re also obviously watching very carefully as we are providing resources to
the government of haiti petraeus added
his comments came day after senior us military official acknowledged the
relief effort puts strain on troop deployments to iraq and afghanistan
doubts about greece starting to lift finance minister
athens jan afp
climate of doubt against debt hit greece and its questionable statistics has
started to lift among eu states after two days of talks in brussels the greek
finance minister said on wednesday
left the meeting with the feeling that the climate against greece is starting
to change and that we are slowly starting to build confidence finance
minister george papaconstantinou told news conference
papaconstantinou this week promised fellow eu finance ministers shakeup of
national statistics after the recently elected socialist government shocked
brussels in october by announcing that the country deficit had been under
reported by its conservative predecessors
on wednesday the minister said that damning european commission report on
greece statistics earlier this month had been slap in the face and that
the credibility shortfall had hurt the country on borrowing markets
the three main credit rating agencies fitch standard and poor and moody
have successively downgraded the country sovereign debt standing
moody yesterday said it was maintaining negative outlook on greece amid
doubts over its chances
athens needs affordable loans as it aims to borrow over billion euros
million dollars this year but the credit downgrades have raised the risk factor
of greek government bonds for potential investors
last week greece sold billion euros in six month and one year treasury
bills on tuesday it raised another billion euros in week bills
greece has public spending deficit that rose to percent of output last
year far above the percent ceiling for countries that use the euro
it is also saddled with debt constituting percent of gross domestic
product gdp
number of greece eurozone peers have criticised athens as its financial woes
have put strong strain on the euro in recent weeks
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
the greek government last week unveiled front loaded three year crisis
blueprint to cut back public deficit of over billion euros and rein in
government debt estimated to exceed billion euros this year
the plan aims to save more than billion euros in with improved tax
collection cost cuts and reduced arms spending to bring the public deficit to
percent of output by
urgent toyota recalls million us vehicles for accelerator problem
washington jan afp
toyota motor has recalled around million vehicles in the united states to
fix problem with their accelerator pedals the company us division announced
thursday
alert
toyota recalls million us vehicles over accelerator problem
flush goldman sachs seeks to soothe bonus outrage
new york jan afp
goldman sachs posted huge forecast shattering profits thursday as the
banking giant moved to deflect criticism about lavish bonuses from billion
dollars reserved for compensation
goldman sachs the poster child for public outrage over big bonuses said it was
scaling its money for employee compensation in the face of criticism that it
weathered the financial crisis with government aid
the bank reported net profit of billion dollars in the fourth quarter for
all of net profit leapt to billion dollars sixfold increase from
billion dollars in
think the people of goldman sachs did great job this year finance chief
david viniar told reporters
goldman sachs said it had alloted billion dollars in for
compensation including bonuses and benefits rise of percent from year
earlier
chairman and chief executive lloyd blankfein said the year pay and benefits
outlay was our lowest ever compensation to net revenues ratio at
percent down from percent year earlier
the wall street giant said that fourth quarter compensation had been reduced to
fund charitable contribution of million dollars to one of the firm
philanthropy programs aimed at stimulating us economic growth and job creation
on average each of the bank employees would have received nearly
dollars in compensation and benefits in
viniar who said that the majority of the reductions would affect top
executives insisted we re not blind to the calls for restraint and we heard
them
goldman sachs one of the most successful survivors of the financial crisis had
announced in december it would pay bonuses to top executives in stock instead of
cash
in the fourth quarter at the height of the financial crisis goldman sachs
had posted its first loss and received billion dollars in government aid that
it has since repaid
shares in goldman sachs plunged percent to close at dollars in new
york as the market posted triple digit losses after president barack obama
announced plan to curb the size and scope of the biggest us banks
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail obama said vowing to enact the reforms in congress despite
lobbyists opposition
the president blamed banks for sparking the worst economic crisis since the
great depression with huge reckless risks in pursuit of quick profits and
massive bonuses in binge of irresponsibility
viniar declined to comment on the announcement but added trying to regulate by
pure size is very dangerous thing to do
blankfein said the bank performed well throughout the year particularly during
the most difficult conditions
despite significant headwinds we are seeing signs of growth and remain focused
on supporting that growth by helping companies raise capital and manage their
risks by providing liequidity to markets and by investing for our clients he
said
earnings per share in the fourth quarter were dollars shattering the
average analyst forecast of dollars
net revenues were billion dollars slightly below the billion dollars
expected
the quarterly profit compared with year earlier loss of billion dollars
amid the financial sector meltdown following the lehman brothers collapse that
year ended on november in the bank previous reporting calendar
the bank whose principal activities are investment banking and trading said it
ranked first worldwide in global mergers and acquisitions in
net revenues in investment banking surged to billion dollars in the fourth
quarter up percent from the third quarter and percent higher than year
earlier
asked about report that the firm will slash bonuses for london staff because
of new british tax on the payments viniar said for the moment nothing is
percent
late last year the british government slapped percent tax rate on bank
employee bonuses above pounds dollars in an attempt to recoup
cash spent rescuing the financial sector
obama slams landmark campaign finance shift
washington jan afp
the us supreme court thursday lifted curbs on corporations spending millions of
dollars to back election candidates in move that will remake campaigns and
likely trigger new negative ad blitz
president barack obama sharply condemned the ruling as huge victory for
big oil wall street and health insurance firms which want to block his reform
plans but most republicans praised it as victory for free speech
the nine justices of the top us court ruled that big business firms could dip
freely into their general funds to finance unlimited campaign advertising either
in support or against political candidate
but the court retained restrictions prohibiting corporations from doling out
cash from company treasuries direct to candidates themselves in the ruling
which could change the landscape ahead of november mid term elections
the court majority opinion said the government was acting unlawfully and was
guilty of censorship if it tried to command where person may get his or her
information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear
the first amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves
but the minority argued in dissent that the ruling confounded the need to stop
the power of corporations stifling democracy
while american democracy is imperfect few outside the majority of this court
would have thought its flaws included dearth of corporate money in politics
the minority opinion said
the decision striking out provision of campaign finance law and
precedents dating back to has profound implications for both november
mid term congressional election campaign and obama re election effort
obama said he had already tasked his administration with working with congress
to rewrite the campaign finance laws to bypass the court decision
with its ruling today the supreme court has given green light to new
stampede of special interest money in our politics obama said
this ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in
washington while undermining the influence of average americans who make
small contributions to support their preferred candidates
obama shocked political experts in the early stages of the presidential
election campaign by outpacing establishment democratic candidate hillary
clinton with millions of small financial donations from private citizens
that kind of nationwide grass roots fundraising network may be disadvantaged in
campaign in which corporate interests could simply pour millions of dollars
into televised advertising blitzes
democratic senator chuck schumer called the decision disastrous
now robber barons can act like parasites striking at the very roots of our
democracy schumer said
but republican senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said the decision was an
important step in bolstering the first amendment to the us constitution
by previously denying this right the government was picking winners and
losers our democracy depends upon free speech not just for some but for all
the supreme court also ruled that any campaign ads not financed by the candidate
or their party must be clearly marked with the name of the sponsor
they also rejected the argument that company share holders could see their money
being used in support of political views which they did not agree with
the decision will also apply to non profits like the pro gun national rifle
association and could also cover labor unions which mostly back democratic
candidates though lack the power of the corporate world
the ruling came in case about documentary titled hillary the movie made
by conservative group in against the white house bid by clinton
the case pitted the federal election commission fec against citizens united
the group that made the biting film but was barred by the fec from airing ads
for it during the presidential election
the fec ruled the producers had to conform to existing us laws on campaign
financing which required political adverts to reveal the source of their
funding
federal judges ruled in favor of the fec but in supreme court hearing in
march last year the justices already appeared to be leaning in favor of
loosening federal controls on spending by corporations
ignore king secession bid africa ruling party
johannesburg jan afp
south africa ruling party on thursday called for members of clan to ignore
secession plan by traditional king who has claimed ownership of more than half
of the country land
king buyelekhaya dalindyebo of the abathembu clan one of several kings in the
rural eastern cape launched his independence bid after he was sentenced last
year to years in jail for several crimes
the ruling african national congress anc in the province dismissed the idea
saying south africa was constitutional democracy
we remain strongly opposed to this misleading and ambitious idea the party
said in statement the anc shall oppose it with all the might and zeal
dalindyebo lawyer filed notice of secession with south africa parliament
last week after an initial deadline was shelved the daily dispatch reported
we have officially cut ties with south africa and we are no longer south
africans the lawyer told the newspaper
secession was threatened last month against demands for the withdrawal of
charges against dalindyebo public presidential apology and million
rand million dollars million euros payment to the royal family and
billion rand for the abathembu nation
four of south africa nine provinces and parts of two others including the
economic hub of gauteng were claimed
dalindyebo was convicted in october on several charges including culpable
homicide arson kidnapping and assault
the charges were linked to set of attacks that occurred more than decade
ago
both the king and the state have been granted leave to appeal the king is
fighting his conviction and sentence and the state is seeking higher penalty
the newspaper said
figure skating davis white grab us ice dance lead
spokane washington jan afp
defending champions meryl davis and charlie white edged tanith belbin and ben
agosto in thursday compulsory routine to lead the ice dance event at the us
figure skating championships
davis and white scored points while olympic runners up belbin and
agosto five time us champions who were sidelined last year by injury finished
second on kim navarro and brent bommentre were third at
all duos skated to the golden waltz in the compulsory dance the first of three
stages of the competition that continues with friday original dance and
concludes with saturday free dance final
the top three finishers in ice dancing will advance to next month vancouver
winter olympics
the women short programme was scheduled later thursday with the free skate
final set for saturday
however for only the second time since just two american women will
advance to the olympics
js dj
haiti quake victims find solidarity in chaos
port au prince jan afp
her husband and two of her children died in haiti earthquake but mariane
dorleis is not alone neighbors are sharing their food and local men have formed
armed gangs for protection
solidarity is growing out of misery in carrefour chaotic seaside shantytown
of port au prince that has received none of the international aid that has begun
to reach other parts of the capital
out at sea giant us aircraft carrier and hospital ship are anchored while us
military helicopters regularly thunder overhead cruel reminders of this
shattered community lack of help from the outside world
live day to day said dorleis
she was cleaning laundry when the earthquake struck while her husband
fisherman and two of her children slept inside their house
neighbors helped her drag the three bodies from the rubble to bury them in the
verge between two roads to build cabin out of cloth and logs
she used to sell the fish her husband caught and now has no means of survival
so neighbors are also helping feed her and her two surviving young ones
there is gentleman who helps me my neighbors can help me all the time but
would not know what to do to survive this morning had nothing to give to
the children she said
the man helping her has five of his own offspring to support his house was
flattened in the quake his fishing boat shattered leaving him no more than his
net which dorleis was repairing in exchange
make every effort possible but we don have much we haven received any
aid and have big family to feed said jean michel nazaire
he wanted to search for aid and work but feared venturing out into the street
where there is only looting chaos and the lingering stench of death
antoine nadal year old chauffeur was one of the few who left the
shantytown since the massive magnitude earthquake struck nine days ago
claiming at least lives leaving over half million homeless and
flattening large swath of the country
if there had been any aid in carrefour then would have found it can tell
you need it he said
he went to the airport to offer his services as driver but everything was in
turmoil there too and he came back empty handed
we live we share said nadal
neighbors clubbed together to share rice maize and oil and traveled to
nearby source for water but today nothing was left to eat
since this morning haven been able to feed my children they are just six
ten and years old added nadal
like others in the ruined neighborhoods of port au prince local men have formed
groups to fight off looters
since the start they have come to steal the only things we were able to save
