annual earnings per share were dollars far better than analysts
expectations of dollars
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
goldman main activities remain investment banking and trading and it 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
goldman earnings came as president barack obama was expected to propose
thursday new regulations and size caps for the biggest us banks after spending
billions in taxpayer dollars to save too big to fail financial giants from
toppling the economy
shares in goldman sachs slid percent to dollars in late morning
trade in new york in sharply lower market
stocks slumped thursday as markets shrugged off some promising earnings news
and showed caution ahead of president obama expected proposal for new limits
on banks said melinda peer analyst at thestreet com
goldman sachs last june repaid billion dollar bailout under the troubled
asset relief program tarp the federal initiative launched to stabilize the
financial sector after the lehman brothers collapse
goldman changed its charter in late to become commercial bank to get
easier access to federal reserve lending facilities to help weather the
financial crisis
spain wants us to publicise bin laden photo mistake
madrid jan afp
spain wants washington to publicise mistake by the fbi which used the features
of spanish politician known for his anti us positions in new computer
generated photo of osama bin laden the foreign minister said thursday
the fbi contemporary representation of the al qaeda leader with greying hair
and stubble and using the forehead and hair of gaspar llamazares was visible
for several hours on the most wanted rewards for justice website before it
was removed
we are in the process of asking the americans to highlight the mistake and
we hope they will do just that miguel angel moratinos told the cuatro news
station
he said madrid had expressed its perplexity and great surprise to the new us
ambassador to madrid alan solomont
fbi spokesman ken hoffman said saturday that an fbi technician acting on his
own initiative had taken the image of llamazares from the internet
but the politician charged the agency took the photo from its own files
if leftists are part of the fbi files north americans europeans or from
elsewhere it not by chance or laughing matter he told news conference
in parliament
llamazares has said he had sent several letters to the ambassador the fbi and
the us congress requesting an explanation
talabani queries iraq ban on saddam candidates amid demos
baghdad jan afp
the row over ban on election candidates with alleged links to saddam hussein
escalated on thursday as iraq president questioned the ruling legality and
thousands of shiites held street protests
the blacklist of more than names has sparked pre election tensions between
the country shiite majority and its sunni arab former elite alarming the
white house and the united nations ahead of the march vote
those barred include people accused of membership of saddam outlawed baath
party as well as the executed dictator once deadly fedayeen men of sacrifice
militia and mukhabarat intelligence division
amid an increasingly tense political atmosphere president jalal talabani who
is kurd announced judicial probe into the scrutiny committee that compiled
the blacklist and handed it to election organisers last week
we asked in an official letter to judge madhat al mahmud president of the
iraqi supreme court that he rule on the legality of the integrity and
accountability committee talabani told reporters in baghdad
our question is is the organisation that took this decision legal
prominent sunni arab mps have argued that the committee has no legal basis as it
has not been approved by parliament
baath party membership was essential for obtaining job and promotion in iraq
omnipotent public sector during saddam regime
but process of de baathification was adopted by washington diplomat paul
bremer head of the coalition provisional authority following the us led
invasion of which saw thousands of saddam era employees lose their jobs
talabani urged iraqis to draw distinction between hardcore saddam loyalists
and the many more who had joined the baath party for pragmatic reasons
hundreds of thousands of people were forced to join the party because
membership was mandatory he said we should not be unjust with them
his comments however did not resonate in the mainly shiite cities of basra
karbala and najaf where thousands of shiites staged rallies to demand that the
ban be upheld
in the central shrine city of karbala around people took to the streets
in the shrine city of najaf farther south hundreds marched and some held
banners proclaiming baathists and nazis are two faces of the same coin and
the return of the baath is the return of attacks and prison
the demonstrations in karbala and najaf were organised by associations devoted
to victims and prisoners of saddam sunni arab dominated regime
we ask the baghdad government and local authorities to punish the baath and its
representatives who continue to belong to the party demonstrator salah al
mussawi told afp in najaf
in the main southern city of basra around protesters took to the streets
some holding banners that said shame on baathists and the baathists of
yesterday are the mps of today
the integrity and accountability committee whose decision has inflamed the
political climate six weeks from polling day is headed by shiite politician
ahmed chalabi who served as deputy prime minister after the invasion
chalabi was key us ally when he spearheaded the case for war against saddam
which was launched on the grounds that the dictator had stockpiled weapons of
mass destruction
however intelligence that chalabi provided in support of those claims in the
run up to the invasion later turned out to be flawed and he subsequently fell
out of favour with washington
us needs new stimulus to keep recovery on track stiglitz
washington jan afp
the us economy needs new stimulus in the face of growth that is too weak to
fuel enough job creation to bring unemployment down nobel laureate economist
joseph stiglitz said thursday
the single most important thing we can do for the economy is to pass second
stimulus stiglitz told an economic forum at the council on foreign relations
in washington
the columbia university professor and former world bank chief economist said
that the us economy has pulled back from the precipice but that don think
anyone would describe the current situation as strong recovery
stiglitz added that officially the recession may be over but that in terms
of the way individuals feel and the level of confidence of business the
recession is far from over
the real factor is that the recovery hasn been strong enough to create new
jobs he said
stiglitz who also served as top adviser to president bill clinton said that
although official unemployment is percent adding in the ranks of discourage
workers and the underemployed brings this to around percent
because the labor force is growing and productivity is increasing the economy
needs to grow at least at to percent to bring down unemployment
stiglitz said adding that this is unlikely in and
it going to be hard to have robust recovery he said
stiglitz said that the troubles in europe make it harder for the us economy to
gain steam we all can export our way out of the crisis he said
although asia is very dynamic it is too small to make up for the shortfall
he added that leaves only one thing to close the gap and that government
stiglitz said the billion dollar stimulus enacted last year was positive but
too small
if we hadn had that stimulus the unemployment rate would have been or
percent he said it was not big enough that clear in retrospect and it
was not well enough designed
he said that although the stimulus increased federal government spending almost
half of the federal stimulus has been offset by contraction at the state and
local level
clinton urges us tech companies not to support censorship
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton urged us technology companies on thursday
not to support internet censorship and said countries which carry out
cyberattacks should be punished
clinton in speech on internet freedom at the newseum journalism museum here
also called on china to conduct thorough and transparent investigation into
the recent cyberattacks on google and other us companies
she cited china north korea tunisia and uzbekistan as nations restricting the
free flow of information or censoring the internet and said that access to
social networking sites in vietnam has suddenly disappeared
she said bloggers and activists had been detained in egypt and singled out
china saudi arabia and vietnam as countries which have co opted the internet
as tool to target and silence people of faith
we stand for single internet where all of humanity has equal access to
knowledge and ideas clinton said
but she said some countries have erected electronic barriers that prevent
their people from accessing portions of the world networks
they have expunged words names and phrases from search engine results she
said they have violated the privacy of citizens who engage in non violent
political speech
clinton said the united states was supporting the development of new tools which
will enable citizens to exercise their right of free expression by
circumventing censorship and called on us technology firms to play role
hope that refusal to support politically motivated censorship will become
trademark characteristic of american technology companies clinton said it
should be part of our national brand
the private sector has shared responsibility to help safeguard free
expression she said and when their business dealings threaten to undermine
this freedom they need to consider what right not simply the prospect of
quick profits
clinton said the state department would hold high level meeting next month
with companies that provide network services for talks on internet freedom
google microsoft yahoo and cisco are among the us technology giants which
have been accused by members of the us congress and others of helping to build
what has been dubbed the great firewall of china
google however following wave of cyberattacks that originated in china said
last week it would no longer censor its chinese search engine even if it means
the internet giant has to shut down its business operations there
clinton called on china to conduct thorough investigation of the cyber
intrusions revealed by google and for its results to be transparent
the internet has already been source of tremendous progress in china and
it great that so many people there are now online she said
but countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic
rights of internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the
next century
without specifically mentioning china clinton also said those who disrupt the
free flow of information in our society or any other pose threat to our
economy our government and our civil society
countries or individuals that engage in cyberattacks should face consequences
and international condemnation she said in an interconnected world an
attack on one nation networks can be an attack on all
clinton remarks came after china said google threat to quit the country over
censorship and cyberattacks should not be linked to sino us ties
if google has any problems in its business in china these must be resolved
according to chinese law and the chinese government is willing to help resolve
these problems chinese vice foreign minister he yafei said
the google case should not be linked with relations between the two governments
and countries otherwise it an over interpretation state media quoted him
as saying
china has defended its right to filter information available on the web and
repeatedly told foreign firms they must obey its laws
countries mobilise to fast track haiti adoptions
paris jan afp
countries around the world are fast tracking adoption processes to allow
hundreds of haitian children to be settled with new families after last week
earthquake but the moves have attracted criticism
many foreign families who began adoption procedures before the quake have been
desperately seeking news of their children since the catastrophe struck on
january
others fear the necessary paperwork may be buried and lost forever in the rubble
of buildings stalling the process for good
leading charities have however urged an immediate moratorium on adoptions until
extended efforts are made to trace and reunite the children with their
relatives
britain save the children and world vision groups and the british red cross
warned that if the adoptions are not stopped there could be risk of families
being broken up forever
taking children out of the country would permanently separate thousands of
children from their families separation that would compound the acute
trauma they are already suffering said jasmine whitbread save the children
chief executive
us and dutch authorities were the first to take fast tracking action
ninety two haitian children being adopted by dutch families arrived in the
netherlands thursday along with heading for luxembourg while so far more
than haitian orphans have landed in the united states where they were
immediately taken for medical check ups
us secretary of state hillary clinton vowed am personally directing that we
do everything we can to try to find and identify those children who are already
adoptable and to try to expedite all the paperwork that has to be done to
get them to their new home
spain belgium canada france and germany have also announced fast tracking
moves
spain foreign ministry said it was taking all possible steps so that haitian
minors who have been adopted by spanish families can travel to spain given the
special conditions affecting haiti
authorities in belgium said the country was moving to speed up adoptions of
haitian children dating back to before the quake even if the procedure is not
yet finished
the french government announced it would take in children from haiti who had
been matched with french parents for adoption
french foreign minister bernard kouchner said there were french families
adopting children from haiti and that the coming to france soon were in the
final stages of the process
we will repatriate them to france as quickly as possible that is to say
immediately kouchner told parliament
at first france had showed caution in speeding up the adoption processes not
wanting to be accused of kidnapping
in sensitive case for france six members of french aid charity were
convicted in of trying to bring in chadian children who they said were
refugees from the war in darfur
canada which has one of the largest haitian diasporas in the world topping
said regular processing fees will be waived and the federal government
will cover any immediate health costs
have directed my officials to issue temporary permits which is an
extraordinary measure to allow these children to enter canada as quickly as
possible immigration minister jason kenney said
in germany foreign ministry spokeswoman said thursday the first youngsters
could arrive in the country in the coming days under new fast unbureaucratic
and humane policy agreed with the haitian government
however the federal office for foreign adoption in the western city of bonn said
the policy only applied to some children whose applications were already
accepted or very far along in the vetting process
the haitian government said at least people died in the quake while
were injured and million left homeless some officials have spoken of
final death toll as high as
uganda to block british oil bid minister
kampala jan afp
uganda will block attempts by british company tullow oil to buy assets from
canada heritage oil that would give it control over all of uganda confirmed
oil reserves minister said thursday
uganda is instead favouring bid from italian oil major eni
government has the pre emptive right to say no or yes to any agreement energy
minister hillary onek told reporters
we haven vetoed yet but our statement is very clear that we shall not allow
process that will promote monopoly and therefore we support the heritage eni
transaction
tullow and heritage control much of uganda confirmed oil reserves in
partnership tullow by itself also owns separate oil field zone
heritage recently said it intended to sell its share and has reached tentative
agreement to sell its ugandan holdings to eni for billion dollars
billion euros onek said
however the british based tullow said it wanted to buy heritage share in
accordance with previously negotiated pre emption right
that negotiation is private affair it is between two companies government
never participated onek said
he explained that if heritage sold to tullow the british firm would control
roughly percent of uganda confirmed deposits
tullow never measured up to their contractual obligation onek added saying
that uganda could revoke the firms licences if they disagree
if they disagree and go to court it will not have any impact at all and if we
find they are nuisance we remove the licence from them he said
latest estimates suggest that uganda lake albert region holds two billion
barrels of oil but according to onek full appraisal of the existing wells
may reveal that the deposits are three times higher
us top court lifts limits on corporate campaign funds
washington jan afp
the us supreme court on thursday lifted year ruling which had set limits on
campaign financing by us businesses
the nine justices ruled that american corporations could dip freely into their
general funds to finance campaign ads either in support or against particular
political candidate
the move overturns ruling made two decades ago which had forced companies to
only use specially earmarked funds from political action committee
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
plane bomb scare caused by orthodox jew source
new york jan afp
an orthodox jew prayer rituals including wearing sacred box on his head
triggered bomb scare thursday aboard us passenger plane security source
told afp
the chautauqua airlines jet bound from new york to louisville kentucky
diverted to philadelphia international airport after what authorities described
as security incident
it appears that it was misunderstanding with religious passenger wearing
religious item and praying loudly the source who spoke on condition of
anonymity said
the flight crew deemed guess his actions and his item he was using to be
suspicious and diverted the airplane the security source said
greg soule spokesman for the transportation security administration said that
disruptive passenger caused the incident
the passenger was questioned by law enforcement officers on the ground and the
plane was searched with negative findings soule said
there an individual in custody an fbi spokesman in philadelphia told afp
there was security concern but can comment on that
us airways was initially reported to be the airline involved chautauqua
airlines operates in partnership with us airways as well as other major brands
initial reports on cbs television referred to male passenger who strapped
wire from his fingers to his head
the security source told afp that the passenger in question was in fact wearing
phylactery the box containing bible verses that orthodox jews strap around
their head as part of their rituals
he was praying loudly and using this device the source said what we re
hearing is there was language barrier
us security services and airports have been on high alert since an alleged
attempt on december by nigerian man to set off bomb on plane flying
from amsterdam to detroit
the man device allegedly malfunctioned and he was quickly overpowered by
passengers and the airliner crew
british impresario cowell plans haiti charity single
london jan afp
british television and music mogul simon cowell has announced plans to organise
charity single to benefit victims of the earthquake in haiti
cowell known for his acid tongued appearances as judge on reality tv shows
american idol and britain the factor has support from prime minister
gordon brown for the single
no acts have yet been confirmed though reports suggest beyonce lady gaga
susan boyle and leona lewis may have been approached
cowell confirmed the plans at television awards ceremony late wednesday
we made the decision today he said we haven got lot of time but we are
going to do something and attempt to raise as much money as possible
he said he had been approached to record the single by brown who told reporters
thursday that consumption tax would be waived on it
have already talked to simon cowell and said there would be an exemption
from vat value added tax for charity single brown said
the agony and anguish for the people that we are seeing on our television
screens is something that british people want to respond to
simon cowell can make huge amount of money to help the people of haiti
us using four airports to support haiti relief
washington jan afp
the us military has started using three more airports to ferry aid and relief
supplies to quake devastated haiti in bid to free major logjams senior us
military commander said thursday
in addition to the caribbean nation main port of entry port au prince
airport us forces were now using an airstrip in the coastal city of jacmel
they were also operating in the neighboring dominican republic at san isidro air
base and at maria montez international airport in barahona us southern command
southcom chief general douglas fraser said
those are growing in their capacities in an effort to relieve that capacity as
we look to improve the airflow at all the airports that are in haiti and the
surrounding area he told reporters at the pentagon via live video feed from
miami
the capital port was destroyed in the temblor
nine days after massive magnitude quake flattened vast swath of
america southern neighbor killing up to people and leaving more than
million homeless doctors on the ground were still scrambling to obtain basic
medical supplies to care for survivors
with destroyed control tower and only one foot meter runway the
port au prince airport which is under us military control has been choked with
aid flights
fraser said between to flights were now flowing into the airport up
from an initial to flights day for total of over flights since
the january temblor but he acknowledged the sheer magnitude of the task to
facilitate the delivery of much needed aid
because of the size and the magnitude of the assistance required we have
waiting list of over flights waiting to get into that small airport he
said
medecins sans frontieres doctors without borders has complained that five of
its planes carrying total of tons tonnes of medical and relief
supplies have been diverted from port au prince to the dominican republic since
january although one of its planes was allowed to land this week
paris has also sought to defuse row with washington after french secretary of
state for cooperation alain joyandet called on the united nations to clarify the
us role in haiti saying the priority was helping haiti not occupying haiti
southcom has established joint task force haiti to oversee us military relief
efforts in the poorest nation in the western hemisphere with lieutenant general
ken keen in charge
around us military personnel are currently supporting that effort both on
the ground and offshore aboard us navy and coast guard vessels and another
us troops are expected to arrive in the coming days
in bid to meet the overwhelming need for water us military aircraft
helicopters and vessels were giving the highest priority to shipments of water
donations southcom said on its website
the us military now has helicopters and ships in the port au prince area
including an aircraft carrier an amphibious ready group coast guard cutters
and the usns comfort hospital ship
those are important because they provide us an offshore basis so we have an
alternative to the capabilities on the airfield fraser said
us forces were delivering aid to zones serving over distribution points
according to southcom the us navy has also set up logistics unit at
guantanamo bay in southern cuba that supports bigger ships in the region
figure skating russians dance around aboriginal row to lead euros
tallinn jan afp
russia oksana domnina and maxim shabalin danced around controversy surrounding
their aboriginal themed original dance on thursday to extend their lead at the
european figure skating championships
australian aboriginal elders have accused the world ice dance champions of
causing serious cultural offence by stealing dance idea from them in the two
and half minute original dance routine
but the pair favourites to win gold at next month winter olympics denied
causing offence and defended their routine which proved hit with the crowd in
the estonian capital and gives them point lead on italy federica
faiella and massimo scali going into friday free dance final
this season original dance is to folk or country theme and while their
rivals opted for more traditional dances the russians preferred the ethnical
aboriginal dance arranged by alexander goldstin
the performance included ceremonial aboriginal dance steps with the pair wearing
dark bodysuits with indigenous swirls in white topped off with red loin cloths
and eucalyptus style leaves
our coach offered us this music and we decided to try it we researched it on
the internet and got lot of information explained year old shabalin
it wasn our purpose that it be especially australian just dance from many
thousands of years ago
he added we re satisfied with out skating this morning it step forward
from russian nationals and we re going to work hard to make it even better at
the olympics
the dance proved less of hit however with the judges who placed faiella and
scali slightly higher for their italian folk dance
the italians scored points for the original dance for an overall total of
with domnina and shabalin scoring second highest with in the
section for an overall
reigning european champions jana khokhlova and sergei novitski slipped to third
after novitski stumbled coming out of spin to their russian folk dance putting
them on going into the final round of three
greek bouncer jailed for australian fatal beating
athens jan afp
greek court thursday sentenced club bouncer to years and five months in
jail for fatally beating up young australian tourist
marios antonopoulos was sentenced by local court in the aegean town of
mytilene on lesbos island for inflicting voluntary bodily lesions on year
old doujon zammit last july
two other bouncers have been sentenced to seven and half years and eight
and half years over the incident which occurred on the popular holiday island
of mykonos
the fourth minor when the attack occurred is to be judged soon in special
court
the bouncers said they suspected some australian tourists of stealing wallets
and bags from the tropicana popular nightspot
zammit father earlier said he had full faith in the greek judiciary
we are putting our faith and trust in the greek justice system and its lovely
people who have supported us so far to send out the right message that this is
not greek behaviour that these men have shown oliver zammit had told
reporters
and this behaviour is not going to be tolerated and accepted and they will be
punished for what they did he said
zammit was one of six australians caught up in the incident after the attack
he was taken to hospital in critical condition but later died after his life
support was turned off with his father approval
the case shocked greece both over the brutality of the attack and over the
subsequent stance of zammit father who praised greeks as good people
hundreds of mykonos residents later gathered at the island harbour to denounce
the killing
oliver zammit donated his son heart kidneys liver and lungs to four people
including year old greek australian
the red cross hospital where zammit died later decided to give his name to one
of its intensive care units
alix creator tintin artist jacques martin dies aged
brussels jan afp
french cartoonist jacques martin creator of the popular comic book hero alix
and collaborator on the tintin books died aged on thursday publisher
casterman announced
martin who studied in belgium collaborated with tintin creator herge for
years on numerous cartoon books featuring the famous boy reporter and his
faithful dog snowy
enjoying success in his own right after his creation alix sprang from the pages
of the tintin magazines to become its own brand strasbourg born martin
plundered imperial rome egypt and the napoleonic era for the backdrops to his
stories
due to failing eyesight martin had long left the drawing to others
he died on thursday in switzerland
urgent us top court lifts limits on corporate campaign funds
washington jan afp
the us supreme court on thursday lifted year ruling which had set limits on
campaign financing by us businesses
urgent us top court lifts limits on corporate campaign funds
washington jan afp
the us supreme court on thursday lifted year ruling which had set limits on
campaign financing by us businesses
biathlon world cup results
anterselva italy jan afp
biathlon world cup results here on thursday
men kms
