than other haitian kids
words gmt by dave clark picture
haiti quake society crime scene
port au prince
as police fire in the air to disperse looters young boy nearby is cutting
hair for two dollars go small sign that normal life is slowly returning
to haiti earthquake hit capital
words gmt by stephane jourdain picture
haiti quake economy banking scene lead
port au prince
hundreds of haitians rush to make deposits and withdraw cash as main bank re
opened almost nine days after massive earthquake left the capital city in
ruins
words gmt by jacques guillon picture
filing plans by region
americas
iran nuclear us diplomacy rdlead wrap
washington
us secretary of state hillary clinton vows the united states and its partners
will not back down in the face of iran defiance on its disputed nuclear
program
words gmt by lachlan carmichael
us banking company earnings goldman thlead
new york
goldman sachs posts huge forecast shattering profits as the us banking
giant moves to deflect criticism about jump in its bonuses paying out
billion dollars in total compansation to its staff
words gmt
us justice vote campaign finance newseries
washington
the us supreme court lifts year ruling limiting campaign financing by
american businesses drawing criticism from president barack obama who warns us
politics will be swamped by stampede of cash from special interests groups
words gmt by lucile malandain
middle east
iraq vote lead wrap
baghdad
the row over ban on election candidates with alleged links to saddam hussein
escalates as iraqi president jalal talabani questions the ruling legality and
thousands of shiites hold street protests
words gmt by salam faraj picture video
mideast diplomacy us rdlead
jerusalem
us envoy george mitchell meets israeli officials in his latest bid to restart
talks with palestinians as the two sides spar over future border arrangements
words gmt by patrick moser picture
europe
attacks aviation security eu us talks rdlead
toledo spain
the eu will decide on us request that europe install body scanners at its
airports after studies into their effects on health and privacy are completed
eu officials say at meeting in spain
words gmt by christian spillmann graphic picture
asia
vietnam rights trial thlead
hanoi
communist vietnam comes under fire from rights campaigners and western
governments for handing long jail terms to four dissidents as an appeals court
upholds jail terms for six others convicted of anti state activities
words gmt by ian timberlake
china economy rdlead wrap
beijing
china red hot economy expanded by percent in but inflation surged
towards the end of the year new data shows as authorities intervene to avert
the risk of overheating
words moved by marianne barriaux picture graphic
we have also moved china economy japan ex tokyo
pakistan afghanistan us unrest military thlead
islamabad
us defense secretary robert gates warns that taliban safe havens along the
pakistan afghanistan border must be tackled or both nations would suffer more
lethal and more brazen attacks
words moved by dan de luce picture
microsoft releases patch for ie hole
san francisco jan afp
microsoft on thursday released patch for an internet explorer ie
software hole through which china based cyber spies attacked google and other
firms
microsoft continues to see limited and targeted attacks against internet
explorer only jerry bryant senior security program manager at microsoft
said in statement
microsoft recommends customers deploy this security update as soon as possible
to protect themselves against the known attacks he said
microsoft deemed the software fix so important that it veered from its usual
protocol of releasing security updates the second tuesday of each month
microsoft will host public webcast starting at pm pacific time
gmt on thursday to discuss the security update and field questions
attacks that prompted showdown between internet giant google and global power
china only worked against ie so computer users can protect themselves by
switching to newer versions of the web browser according to microsoft
no matter which web browser people use upgrading to the most current version
promises to increase protection against hackers
microsoft confirmed last week that previously unknown security vulnerability
in its ie browser was used in cyberattacks which prompted google to threaten
to shut down its operations in china
revealing the attacks on january google said they originated from china and
targeted the email accounts of chinese human rights activists around the world
but did not explicitly accuse the chinese government of responsibility
web security firm mcafee inc said that the attacks on google and other
companies showed level of sophistication beyond that of cyber criminals and
more typical of nation state
google said more than other unidentified firms were targeted in the highly
sophisticated attacks while other reports have put the number of companies
attacked at more than
only one other company adobe has come forward so far and acknowledged that it
was target
attackers used email or some other lure to get employees of targeted company
to click on link and visit specially crafted website using internet
explorer
malicious software would then be downloaded that has the capability to
essentially install back doors in machines and give hackers access
us embassy seeks iraqi fans on facebook
baghdad jan afp
in what could be seen as new front in cyber diplomacy or naive gesture
depending on your point of view the us embassy in baghdad launched facebook
page on thursday to reach out to iraqis
the page opened with video posting by ambassador christopher hill who spoke
of his high hopes for the forum where fans will be encouraged to follow
embassy news and learn more about american culture and society
this is something new we are trying said hill who delivered his opening
address from sofa where he sat dressed casually in blue cardigan and white
shirt
we like to be able to reach out little better to the iraqi people
especially young people who know about facebook and know how it all works
statement announcing the page launch promised fans would receive news feed
highlighting news and events of interest photo albums as well as audio and
video clips
an english language corner will also be updated every week with american
expressions and useful grammar and vocabulary hints it said
in the one minute and second long video hill said the face of america was
going to be changing in iraq with soldiers being replaced by outreach programmes
and cultural exchanges
there gonna be less military more civilians he said alluding to
withdrawal of us combat troops by august and of all other soldiers by the end
of
so this is our way of reaching out to people understanding what iraqi
problems are what iraqi concerns are and we hope you all will be able to reach
out to us little better he added urging people to become fans of the page
more than people had signed up by pm gmt
psychiatric problems heavier burden for us combat troops study
paris jan afp
us troops withdrawn from the front line in iraq and afghanistan for medical
reasons from to were increasingly evacuated because of psychiatric
problems study released on friday reveals
only percent of troops taken out of combat operations on medical grounds
during this four year period were because of combat injury
the biggest single cause for pullout were musculo skeletal and joint problems
which accounted for percent of medical evacuations
in contrast psychiatric grounds accounted for five percent of evacuations in
iraq and six percent in afghanistan in these figures rose to percent
and percent respectively in
the analysis published by the lancet was led by steven cohen of johns hopkins
school of medicine in baltimore
it drew on data from more than us personnel who had been evacuated to the
main us military receiving hospital in landstuhl germany
the authors note that the increase in psychiatric cases occurred despite the
introduction of mental health teams devoted to treating combat stress
repeat missions and dwindling public support for the iraq war may partly account
for the rise they suggest
possible explanations are the cumulative psychological effect of repeated
deployments the increasing manpower burden borne by reserve and national guard
units decreased threshold for evacuation and shift in public opinion
regarding the war in iraq says the paper
other significant causes for medical evacuation were disorders of the nervous
system percent and spinal pain seven percent
the findings have implications for the pentagon seeking to prevent evacuations
that sap frontline strength and disrupt operations and for doctors and families
helping returning troops
as survival rates of combat injuries increase and the burden of non battle
related injuries and psychiatric disorders continues to soar society must be
prepared to deal with the aftermath of these injuries says the paper
football zambia derail highrollers gabon to make last eight
benguela angola jan afp
zambia derailed highrollers gabon here on thursday to qualify for the africa
cup of nations quarter finals for the first time in years
goals in either half from rainford kalaba and the chinese based james chamanga
earned herve renard side who went into the game footing group place in
the quarters along with cameroon who drew with tunisia over in lubango
zambia reward for topping the table was last eight match up with group
runners up nigeria
renard said when we came to angola we said we will qualify for the quarter
finals but people were laughing at us against nigeria our target is to reach
the semi final
zambia skipper chris katongo added it great moment for me as captain to
reach the knockout stage of the nations cup we have achieved something broken
the barrier which lot of people thought was impossible
katonga gabon counterpart daniel cousin cut sad figure
we thought we had qualified but after short while we received the news that
we did not qualify he said
we started well against cameroon in their first match but whatever happened
happened
zambia burst out of the blocks in benguela as befitted team that needed the
three points to escape the clutches of group whereas gabon required just
solitary point
on minutes zambia had their first major opportunity after neat move
involving felix katongo and jacob mulenga only for the utrecht striker to shoot
high over
the gabon defence was under pressure for the first real time in the tournament
as zambia maintained their energetic start
by far the more menacing of the two sides zambia south africa based felix
katongo the captain brother squandered another gilt edged opportunity when
he scuffed the ball from in front of goal
zambia took deserved lead in the th minute when defender kampamba slid the
ball upfield to kalaba and the uniao leiria midfielder kept his cool to knock
the ball from the left of the box past the onrushing gabon keeper ebang ovono
that was the first goal gabon had conceded since arriving in angola
at the break with tunisia leading cameroon in lubango it was the tunisians
and zambia who were set to march on
but with cameroon levelling shortly after the break that put them in three way
tie with zambia and gabon on four points with gabon the ones to miss out
zambia twice africa cup of nations runners up emerged for the second half
intent on killing off the tie
lax defending led to zambia second goal with mulenga fighting off gabon
defender moise brou to cross the ball from the near post to the waiting chamanga
with the forward tapping in to an open goal
zambia had to survive nerve tingling final eight minutes after gabon got back
into the match when hull city striker cousin floated in high ball from the
left flank for substitute fabrice do marcolino to shoot past ovono
zambia will be without the services of suspended chintu kampamba for the
quarters after the defender picked up his secoond booking of the competition
bahrain completes deal for nine blackhawk helicopters
manama jan afp
bahrain finalised an agreement for nine blackhawk helicopters at the kingdom
air show commander of the bahraini air force general sheikh hamad bin abdullah
al khalifa said on thursday
today we have completed all the arrangements with us manufacturer sikorsky
and we will receive nine aircraft next may sheikh hamad told afp
we had previous negotiations with the company and were supposed to receive the
aircraft last november he said
the sheikh added that this model of helicopter is equipped with advanced
systems for search and rescue operations and for carrying troops and also has
extra fuel tanks to allow it to fly farther
the sheikh did not disclose the value of the deal saying only that we have
completed the transaction for competitive and appropriate price
this was the first agreement for the purchase of military aircraft announced at
the bahrain international airshow which opened on thursday
around companies are participating in the airshow which was also attended by
king abdullah ii of jordan and russian deputy prime minister victor zubkov
french president to visit rwanda next month kigali
kigali jan afp
french president nicolas sarkozy will visit rwanda next month after the two
countries resumed diplomatic ties marred by mutual recriminations over the
genocide rwanda foreign ministry said
the february visit will be the first by french president since the
massacre of some people in space of days
rwanda foreign ministry made the announcement after france new envoy
laurent contini presented his credentials to rwanda foreign minister louise
mushikiwabo on wednesday
the french envoy informed the minister of the slated visit of the french
president nicolas sarkozy on february statement said
the two countries announced in november the resumption of relations severed in
after french judge issued warrants against president paul kagame top
aides on suspicion of being behind the death of rwandan ex president
the april downing of the plane carrying then president juvenal
habyarimana and former burundi president cyprien ntaryamira is believed to have
triggered the mass murder of mainly minority tutsi by extremist hutu militia
ties were strained in the wake of the genocide after kigali alleged french
forces trained extremist hutu militia which carried out the killings charge
paris has repeatedly denied
in the two snapped diplomatic relations after french investigating judge
jean louis bruguiere issued arrest warrants for nine rwandans suspected of
plotting the downing of the plane over kigali
bruguiere also accused kagame of involvement in the plane downing
but probe by rwandan panel whose outcome was published this month said
extremists in the country then government were responsible for habyarimana
death and that france was not involved
it however noted that french military officials stationed in rwanda as part of
military agreement with the late president regime had access to the plane
wreckage
the investigating committee said the french officials walked away with the
downed aircraft flight recorder and missile debris
earlier this month french foreign minister bernard kouchner visited rwanda the
first by french government official since the november decision
paris and kigali pledged to improve relations and have since appointed
ambassadors to either country
top obama ally no rush on health care
washington jan afp
president barack obama top ally in the us congress poured cold water thursday
on widely discussed way to save his embattled push to overhaul us health care
from political oblivion
democratic house speaker nancy pelosi said she did not have the votes to pass
the senate version of sweeping legislation to enact obama top domestic goal
citing unrest among house democrats who prefer their more robust bill
in its present form without any changes don think it possible to pass
the senate bill in the house she told reporters don see the votes for it
at this time
pelosi tempered her doubts by saying nothing is discarded everything is on the
table and underlined that democrats will go forward on health care because
the present system is unsustainable
we re not in big rush the california democrat said shortly after talks with
senate democratic majority leader harry reid we ll take the time it needs to
consider the options
shock defeat in special election on tuesday stripped democrats of their
already unreliable vote supermajority in the senate technically enabling
republicans united against the effort to stall the bill indefinitely
top democrats in the senate and house of representatives had been working with
the white house to meld the two chambers rival bills and push the compromise
version through but face narrowing legislative path to success
house democrats met earlier to consider their options including passing the
senate bill and trying to change it later crafting stripped down measure or
pushing series of what one lawmaker called bite sized health care proposals
anchored on largely uncontroversial items in the giant package
republicans gleeful over winning the massachusetts senate seat held for nearly
half century by democratic icon ted kennedy have said tuesday election
means the democratic approach is dead
but pelosi said the vote has not diminished the need for affordable quality
health care reform and for health care to be available to all americans as
right not privilege
democrats hoped to have clear plan before obama delivers his marquee state of
the union speech on wednesday aides said
we have to get bill passed we know that that predicate that we all
subscribe to we have to pass legislation said pelosi
myanmar junta worse than cyclone nargis ipu official
geneva jan afp
rights violations by myanmar junta has caused more damage than cyclone nargis
philippines senator and top member of the world leading body of
parliamentarians said on thursday
in the year myanmar was hit by terrible catastrophe by typhoon nargis
and because there was so much devastation people thought that was the worst
thing that could happen to myanmar said aquilino pimentel president of the
inter parliamentary union ipu human rights committee
but actually not it was rather the deprivation of the rights of the people
by ruling junta he added
more than people died when cyclone nargis devastated myanmar irrawaddy
delta in may the cost of repairing the damage was estimated at over four
billion dollars
pimentel and the committee called for pro democracy icon aug san suu kyi and
opposition parliamentarians elected in to be freed underlining they had
been detained without trial while some were subjected to severe torture
nothing much seems to be happening in terms of advancing the cause of democracy
in myanmar he told journalists
the committee resolution called on myanmar powerful neighbours india and
china and the association of south east asian nations asean to back moves to
urgently free the
as profits soar goldman sachs aims to ease pay concerns
new york jan afp
goldman sachs posted massive fourth quarter and full year profits thursday
that shattered forecasts as the us banking giant moved to deflect criticism
about jump in its compensation levels
think the people of goldman sachs did great job this year said finance
chief david viniar in conference call with reporters
the prestigious wall street investment bank said it had net profit of
billion dollars in the fourth quarter
goldman sachs the poster child for public outrage over lavish bonuses blamed
for excessive risk taking that led to the crisis said it had alloted
billion dollars for compensation and benefits in the year percent more than
the year earlier amount
chairman and chief executive lloyd blankfein said the pay and benefits
outlay was our lowest ever compensation to net revenues ratio
the ratio stood at percent down from percent year earlier
the wall street giant said thursday that fourth quarter compensation was 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 receive nearly
dollars in
viniar who said that the majority of the compensation 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 under policy adopted despite its repayment of taxpayer aid that
eliminated government equity stake
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
asked about report that the firm will slash bonuses for london staff because
of new british tax on the payments viniar was vague for the moment nothing
is percent
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 period in ended on november in the bank previous reporting
calendar
for all of goldman sachs posted net profit of billion dollars
sixfold increase from billion dollars in
annual earnings per share were dollars far better than analysts
expectations of dollars
ceo 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
the bank whose principal activities remain 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
shares in goldman sachs plunged percent to dollars at gmt 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 without knowing details of the
proposal but added trying to regulate by pure size is very dangerous thing
to do
arcelormittal employees return to work in algeria
algiers jan afp
workers at steel giant arcelormittal plant in algeria returned to the job
thursday after an eight day strike and company spokesman said the facility
could now top last year production
the el hadjar facility employees went back to work after court ordered
the strike suspended and the company the world biggest steel producer
agreed to renovate the site coking plant
workers had gone on strike to prevent the closure of the coking plant which was
taken out of use in october due to its condition and where people had
worked
the employees have returned to their work posts union official smain kouadria
told afp
the strike had resulted in tonne daily reduction in the amount of steel
produced according to arcelormittal spokesman mohamed guedha
but guedha said thursday the facility could now surpass last year production
of tonnes of liquid steel and reach million
the objective is perfectly attainable he said according to aps news agency
management had previously planned to invest million dollars million
euros to renovate the el hadjar facility excluding the coking plant the cost
of renovating the coking plant had been estimated at million dollars
the facility subsidiary of the worldwide steel giant is former state
enterprise in which the indian ispat firm in the arcelormittal group bought
percent of shares in oc tober
obama slams supreme court over corporate donations
washington jan afp
president barack obama slammed the us supreme court thursday for easing curbs on
big business spending on election campaigns warning of new stampede of
special interest cash in politics
the court earlier ruled that corporations could dip freely into their
general funds to finance campaign ads either in support or against particular
political candidate
the move will likely unleash an even more intense barrage of campaign ads than
usual in the run up to mid term congressional elections later this year and
obama reelection race
with its ruling today the supreme court has given green light to new
stampede of special interest money in our politics obama said in an unusually
frank presidential statement on court decision
it is major victory for big oil wall street banks health insurance
companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in
washington to drown out the voices of everyday americans
the ruling has the potential to disadvantage democrats in favor of republicans
but the administration also pounced on the decision to take fresh swipe at
wall street hours after obama unveiled new range of restrictions on us banks
despite lifting curbs on advertising financed by big business the ruling left
in place restrictions on big business contributing directly from their
treasuries directly to political candidate
football africa cup of nations group final standings
lubango angola jan afp
africa cup of nations group final standings thursday played won drawn
lost goals for against points
zambia qualify
cameroon qualify
gabon
tunisia
football leading africa cup of nations scorers
lubango angola jan afp
leading africa cup of nations scorers after final group matches thursday
flavio amado ang seydou keita mli
emad moteab and mohamed gedo nagy egy mateus manucho alberto ang
samuel eto cmr frederic kanoute mli jacob mulenga zam russell
mwafulirwa maw osaze odemwingie ngr
football dunfermline reinstated in scottish cup
glasgow jan afp
dunfermline were dramatically reinstated in the this season scottish cup on
thursday just week after being kicked out of the competition for fielding an
ineligible player
the pars thrashed stenhousemuir in the fourth round
but their victory was called into question when it was found calum woods had
come off the bench in the second half at east end park despite the scottish
football association suspension list declaring him banned for the match
the sfa threw first division dunfermline out but on thursday an independent
appeals panel ordered the fourth round tie be replayed but at second division
stenhousemuir ochilview ground
date for the match has yet to be set with last home tie against glasgow
giants celtic awaiting the winners
the pars were also fined pounds for fielding woods and pounds for
submitting an inaccurate team sheet dunfermline fourth round appearance fee
was also forfeited
the sfa insisted they had to expel dunfermline to protect the tournament
integrity but the pars argued their punishment was excessive
but after thursday reversal dunfermline director of football jim leishman
said we can still only apologise to the dunfermline fans that we are in this
situation but we are delighted that we are still in the cup
last week we thought we were out the cup but we got the chance to present our
case and we are delighted to have the opportunity to go forward
he added stenhousemuir have been magnificent in this they haven said
anything against it they have went with the judgment
sfa chief executive gordon smith said they were taken aback by the appeal
verdict but added he hoped it would serve as warning to other clubs
we are surprised by the decision after what the emergency committee considered
number of serious infringements of the cup competition rules by dunfermline
athletic smith said in an sfa statement
nonetheless we respect the decision of the appeals board and hope that the
situation involving dunfermline athletic and the sanctions imposed on them
tonight thursday will ensure all participating clubs are mindful of the cup
competition rules in future
