china will take fresh steps to cool its economy reduces demand for risk
sensitive currencies analysts say
words gmt
commodities energy oil price ndlead wrap
london
oil prices rise as traders await weekly data on us energy reserves and after
sharp losses caused by concern about the booming chinese economy
words gmt
us envoy in israel in bid to relaunch peace process
jerusalem jan afp
us envoy george mitchell met israeli officials on thursday in his latest bid to
restart talks with palestinians as the two sides sparred over future border
arrangements
mitchell and defence minister ehud barak talked of the measures that are needed
to move forward the political process with the palestinians the ministry said
in statement
the us envoy also met foreign minister avigdor lieberman and was scheduled to
hold talks with prime minister benjamin netanyahu later in the day before
meeting palestinian president mahmud abbas on friday
already slow moving negotiations between israel and the palestinians came to
complete standstill more than year ago during israel massive offensive on
the islamist hamas ruled gaza strip
abbas has repeatedly said he would not return to the negotiating table until
israel imposes complete halt to settlement construction in the occupied
territories but recently appeared open to freeze for fixed period of time
netanyahu meanwhile said on wednesday that israel would maintain security
presence along the eastern border of any future palestinian state raising
tensions and further complicating us led peace efforts
in his first public comment on the issue of borders since assuming office last
year netanyahu said such presence between the west bank and jordan was
crucial to prevent the smuggling of rockets and other weapons
the palestinians categorically rejected the suggestion
we will not accept anything less than completely sovereign palestinian state
on all the territories with its own borders resources and airspace and we will
not accept any israeli presence either military or civilian on our land
abbas spokesman nabil abu rudeina told afp
netanyahu remarks place more obstacles in the way of restarting
negotiations these remarks reveal the solution that netanyahu wants and the
kind of state he would be satisfied with abu rudeina said
abbas has refused to renew negotiations short of full though possibly
temporary israeli halt of settlement activity in the west bank including
annexed east jerusalem which the palestinians consider their capital
this visit by mitchell is an attempt to save what remains of the peace
process which israel has paralysed abu rudeina said
this is because of israel refusal to completely halt settlements in all the
palestinian territories occupied in especially in jerusalem which we
consider red line in any negotiations he added
there is no palestinian state without jerusalem
netanyahu has refused to limit construction in jerusalem which israel considers
its eternal undivided capital but has said he is willing to meet abbas face
to face at any time
the palestinians are piling demand upon demand they should be told fair and
square get into the tent and start negotiating for peace netanyahu said on
wednesday
before travelling to israel mitchell held talks in lebanon and syria where he
stressed that both countries had key role to play in comprehensive middle
east peace
afp gmt news advisory
paris jan afp
duty editor stefan smith
tel
haiti rescuers refuse to abandon hope
troops keep uneasy peace in nigerian riot city
obama announces new curbs on banks
haiti quake lead wrap
port au prince
foreign medical teams work feverishly to stop countless more dying from massive
injuries in haiti as rescue workers refuse to abandon hope of pulling more
survivors from the rubble
words gmt by beatriz lecumberri picture graphic video
nigeria unrest religion rdlead
jos nigeria
religious leaders conduct mass funerals amid tight security in jos after
authorities relax curfew following four days of muslim christian clashes that
left nearly dead
words gmt by aminu abubakar
us economy politics banking regulation
washington
president barack obama unveils new rules for the banking sector expected to
include size caps for the biggest us banks in an effort to avert new economic
shock from too big to fail financial giants
words gmt picture
haiti
haiti quake relief aid homeless relocate rdlead
port au prince
haiti officials say they are relocating thousands of homeless earthquake victims
to hastily erected villages designed to each hold at least people
words gmt by sophie nicholson
haiti quake adoption wrap
paris
countries around the world fast track adoption processes to allow hundreds of
haitian children to be settled with new families after last week earthquake
but the moves have attracted criticism
words gmt by emilie bickerton
europe
attacks aviation security eu us talks ndlead
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 says at meeting in spain
words gmt by christian spillmann graphics picture
france media internet it twitter facebook
paris
five journalists plan to lock themselves away in french rural retreat with
access only to facebook and twitter in an experiment to test the quality of news
from the social networking and micro blogging sites
words gmt by marie dominique follain
middle east
attacks yemen qaeda rdlead wrap
sanaa
yemen stops granting entry visas on arrival at its airports to prevent militants
from entering the country widening its dragnet against an al qaeda cell
believed behind spate of global attacks
words gmt by hammoud mounassar graphic
mideast diplomacy us lead
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
iraq vote wrap
baghdad
the row over ban on election candidates with alleged links to saddam hussein
escalates as thousands of shiites take to the streets and iraq president
questions the legality of the ruling
words gmt by salam faraj picture video
britain iraq military politics inquiry lead
london
britain was keen to avoid the war in iraq its foreign secretary at the
time tells public inquiry insisting ministers made the best judgements
possible in the run up to the invasion
words gmt by alice ritchie picture
americas
us china it company internet spy clinton google ndlead
washington
us secretary of state hillary clinton urges us technology companies not to
support internet censorship and says countries which conduct cyberattacks should
be punished
words gmt by chris lefkow
africa
kenya unrest jamaica islam thlead
nairobi
kenya makes fresh attempt to deport radical jamaican imam abdulla al faisal
this time on private jet scheduled to fly him back to his country
words gmt by jean marc mojon
asia pacific
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
lifestyle
lifestyle britain mideast china india islam science history
london
the debt owed by european scholars to their muslim counterparts on everything
from water pumps and blood circulation to engineering and map making is unveiled
in london exhibition
words gmt by alice ritchie picture
us using four airports to support haiti relief
washington jan afp
the united states is now operating at four 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 also now at work at airports in the coastal city of
jacmel
they were also operating in the neighboring dominican republic at san isidro and
barahona us southern command chief general douglas fraser said
profit rich goldman sachs seeks to limit row on pay
new york jan afp
goldman sachs blasted past forecasts thursday with impressive fourth quarter and
full year profits as the banking giant moved to deflect criticism about
jump in its compensation levels
goldman sachs one of the leading wall street investment banks said it had
net profit of billion dollars in the fourth quarter
the bank at the center of public outrage over lavish bonuses blamed for
excessive risk taking that led to the crisis said it had paid billion
dollars in compensation and benefits in the year percent more than the year
earlier amount
chairman and chief executive lloyd blankfein said the outlay was our lowest
ever compensation to net revenues ratio
the ratio stood at percent compared with the ceo comment in conference
call in november that the ratio had stood at an average percent between
and
goldman sachs one of the most successful survivors of the financial crisis
announced in december it would pay bonuses to top executives in stock
instead of cash under policy adopted despite its full reimbursement of
taxpayer aid that eliminated government equity stake
the wall street giant also said compensation previously accrued was reduced to
fund charitable contribution of million dollars in the past quarter
earnings per share in the fourth quarter were dollars far more than the
average analyst forecast of dollars
net revenues in the quarter 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 the influential wall street bank posted net profit of
billion dollars sixfold increase from billion dollars in
blankfein said the bank performed well throughout the year particularly during
the most difficult conditions
despite significant headwinds we are seeing signs of growth he said
goldman main activities remain investment banking and trading and it said it
ranked first worldwide in global mergers and acquisitions in
shares in goldman sachs slipped percent to dollars in early new york
trading
the bank 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
crisis meeting in berlin on airbus germany
berlin jan afp
representatives from seven cash strapped nato powers met in berlin on thursday
in an attempt to hammer out way forward for the troubled military
transport plane german officials said
the seven countries have ordered of the aircraft for billion euros
billion dollars from european plane maker airbus but the project is three years
behind schedule and reported billion euros over budget
airbus boeing arch rival owned by aerospace giant eads has threatened to
pull the plug unless the seven countries germany france spain britain
belgium luxembourg and turkey stump up more cash
france has indicated that it is ready to pay more as long as others follow
suit but germany is seen as more reluctant berlin has ordered of the
aircraft and france and are the two biggest customers
we want the but not at any price german defence minister karl theodor
zu guttenberg said in an interview with the bayernkurier paper to appear on
saturday our willingness to compromise has its limits
press reports said that the meeting which was taking place at the german
defence ministry and included state secretaries from the seven countries plus
unnamed industry figures could continue on friday
the heads of airbus and eads earlier turned up the heat on the seven nations to
pledge more money to the project by the end of january warning that the fate of
the european aerospace giant depended on it
airbus has employees around europe with about working on the
state of the art new aircraft that can carry troops armoured vehicles
and helicopters which would replace europe ageing fleet of transport planes
biathlon world cup win for sednev
anterselva italy jan afp
serguei sednev of ukraine won the men biathlon world cup race here on
thursday
he covered the kilometres in mins secs to finish ahead of austria
daniel mesotitsch and alexis boeuf of france
britain keen to avoid iraq war minister
london jan afp
britain was keen to avoid the war in iraq its foreign secretary at the
time said thursday insisting ministers made the best judgements possible in
the run up to the invasion
jack straw the first serving cabinet minister to give evidence to the public
inquiry into the conflict added that backing the war was the most difficult
decision have ever faced in my life
straw currently justice secretary in prime minister gordon brown government
took the stand week before his former boss tony blair hotly anticipated
appearance
at the same time he submitted page memorandum to the hearing summarising
his views
our foreign policy objective was the disarmament of iraq and its compliance
with un security council resolution not military action against iraq
nor regime change he wrote in the memorandum
had never wanted war but the strategy we had adopted to secure iraq
disarmament was diplomacy backed by the threat of force
reluctantly but firmly came to the view that to enforce iraq disarmament
obligations we had no option but to proceed with military action if saddam
hussein did not respond to final ultimatum
however straw also accepted that from early there was no secret
whatever that us military action against iraq backed by britain was
possibility
britain was keen to stay close to the united states because of the enduring
spectre of the suez crisis over british foreign policy straw added
on personal note straw said the decision to support military action was the
most difficult decision have ever faced in my life
made my choice he wrote have never backed away from it and do not
intend to do so and fully accept the responsibilities which flow from that
believed at the time and still believe that we made the best judgements
we could have done in the circumstances
he added that he deeply regret the deaths of civilians and soldiers in
iraq
passenger arrested after airline bomb threat fbi
new york jan afp
passenger was arrested thursday in philadelphia airport after reported
bomb threat on plane from new york the federal bureau of investigation fbi
said
there an individual in custody an fbi spokesman in philadelphia told afp
us airways flight bound from laguardia in new york to louisville in kentucky
was diverted to philadelphia international airport for security reasons morgan
dunnant an airline spokesman told afp
the plane landed without incident in philadelphia and the passengers and crew
are back in the air terminal being reaccommodated there was security concern
but can comment on that he said
the details of the incident which fueled jitters throughout the us air travel
system were not immediately clear
according to cbs male passenger strapped wire from his fingers to his
head
we don have any information now the fbi spokesman said there plane on
the ground in philadelphia we ve got all our units there
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
urgent us using four airports to support haiti relief
washington jan afp
the united states is now operating at four airports to ferry aid and relief
supplies to quake devastated haiti in bid to free major logjams senior us
military commander said thursday
iraq president queries legality of candidate vetting body
baghdad jan afp
iraqi president jalal talabani cast doubt on thursday on the legality of
controversial committee that has barred more than candidates linked to
saddam hussein from standing for election
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
talabani was referring to the committee that has banned candidates from
standing in march general election accusing them of being members or
sympathisers of the executed dictator outlawed baath party fedayeen militia
or mukhabarat intelligence network
prominent sunni arab mps have argued that the committee has no legal basis as it
has not been approved by parliament
the blacklist has sparked pre election tensions between the country shiite
majority and its sunni arab former elite alarming the white house and the
united nations
talabani who is himself kurd urged people to draw distinction between
hardcore saddam loyalists and the many more iraqis who had no choice but to join
the baath party
we should not be unjust with them talabani said
asked whether the timing of the ban was wise just six weeks before the election
he replied wish this decision had been taken another time
thousands took to the streets of mainly shiite cities on thursday urging that
the ban be upheld
in the central shrine city of najaf hundreds marched holding 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
sunnis however many of whom lost their jobs in purge of iraq dominant
public sector institutions after the us led invasion of have said they are
being marginalised ahead of the vote
the integrity and accountability committee is headed by shiite politician ahmed
chalabi who served as deputy prime mininster after the invasion and whose
current job is to vet would be candidates and purge those deemed unsuitable
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
alert
us using four airports to support haiti relief effort official
eu chief kicks off anti poverty drive
madrid jan afp
eu commission chief jose manuel barroso on thursday launched drive to fight
poverty on the continent which affects close to fifth of its million
people
the fight against poverty and social exclusion is political necessity of the
highest order he said underlining that the current figures are intolerable
barosso was launching the european year against poverty and social exclusion
according to eu figures some million people live under the poverty line in
europe of whom million are children
jose luis rodriguez zapatero the head of the spanish government which holds
the eu rotating presidency stressed the need to focus on the more
marginalised sections the elderly the handicapped women and minority ethnic
groups such as the roma
the drive will see awareness campaigns in the bloc member nations
haiti relocates thousands of homeless minister
port au prince jan afp
haiti officials said thursday they were relocating thousands of homeless
earthquake victims to hastily erected villages designed to each hold at least
people
the government has made available to people free transportation large
operation is taking place we re in the process of relocating homeless people
said haitian interior minister paul antoine bien aime
officials said the government was paying for at least buses to take victims
to the south and north of the country from the capital port au prince which was
largely destroyed in magnitude earthquake earlier this month
brightly painted public buses were roaming the city to pick up passengers many
of whom piled on top of the roof desperate to leave the rubble strewn streets
and structures weakened by dozens of aftershocks
it is not clear where the internally displaced people will end up but officials
said they had begun the process with local mayors around the country of
identifying sites for the villages
coming amid public discontent over the government performance in the aftermath
of the earthquake the move is one of its first major steps to aid the hundreds
of thousands of people left homeless by the disaster
at least half million people are living outdoors in improvised camps in the
haitian capital according to the international organization for migration
spokeswoman for the iom said the count of those who were homeless or staying
outside their homes after last week earthquake was climbing
so far some improvised settlements comprising at least people have
been identified in this city alone out of which settlements have been
assessed by iom the haitian government and humanitarian partners the agency
said thursday
wall street mixed after goldman results jobless data
new york jan afp
wall street stocks traded mixed thursday as the market digested financial
results of companies and an increase in initial claims for jobless insurance
benefits
the dow jones industrial average fell points percent to
day after the key us indexes suffered their biggest drop in the new year
the nasdaq composite rose points percent to and the
standard amp poor index dipped points percent to
the market opened after us banking giant goldman sachs posted fourth quarter and
full year profits well above wall street expectations despite slip in
revenues
it notched net profit of billion dollars in the fourth quarter while
earnings per share were dollars topping analysts average forecast of
dollars
the markets looked to opening slightly higher on the heels of favorable earnings
reports by goldman and several other companies but an unexpected jump in weekly
initial jobless claims and monetary tightening concerns in china worried
investors analysts at charles schwab amp co said
new claims for jobless insurance benefits in the united states ending january
rose for the third consecutive week to an increase of from the
previous week revised figure of the labor department said
it was the third straight week of increase most economists had forecast that
claims would be around as the world largest economy emerged from its
worst recession in decades
chinese government data showed on thursday that the country red hot economy
expanded by percent in but inflation surged towards the end of the
year highlighting the risks of overheating
concerns over credit squeeze in china and fears over the fledgling global
economic recovery had sent jitters through the stock markets on wednesday
football shea set to miss rest of season ferguson
dublin jan afp
manchester united defender john shea is set to miss the rest of the season
with leg injury manager sir alex ferguson said thursday
shea suffered suspected dead leg playing for the republic of ireland during
their controversial world cup playoff defeat by france in november but the
injury has proved more severe than first thought
ferguson told thursday irish independent he got terrible injury at the
moment it one of those sorts of injuries that are unusual it like dead
leg except dead leg is usually only three or four days
the problem is that the blood clot became all knotted and when it gets knotted
you get calcification so therefore it long process to clear that up and
he ll probably miss the season now
it bad blow for the boy and for the team because he can play anywhere
the year old shea has demonstrated his versatility by playing across the
back four for the english champions as well as in midfield
his injury has prevented shea establishing himself as first team regular
just when fitness problems involving united defenders this season gave him
chance of nailing down place in the team
ferguson was in no doubt of what would have happened to shea this season had
the player avoided injury
when you look at all the problems ve had with the back four he could have
played every single one said the united boss
shea will also miss the republic friendly with brazil at premier league
arsenal emirates stadium on march and an end of season training camp
ferguson said the upcoming friendly date was an annoyance for club managers and
questioned its worth to international bosses ahead of june world cup in south
africa
don even think the international managers think they re all that important
now they never play their full team and there always drop outs
football shea set to miss rest of season ferguson
dublin jan afp
manchester united defender john shea is set to miss the rest of the season
with leg injury manager sir alex ferguson said thursday
shea suffered suspected dead leg playing for the republic of ireland during
their controversial world cup playoff defeat by france in november but the
injury has proved more severe than first thought
ferguson told thursday irish independent he got terrible injury at the
moment it one of those sorts of injuries that are unusual it like dead
leg except dead leg is usually only three or four days
the problem is that the blood clot became all knotted and when it gets knotted
you get calcification so therefore it long process to clear that up and
he ll probably miss the season now
it bad blow for the boy and for the team because he can play anywhere
the year old shea has demonstrated his versatility by playing across the
back four for the english champions as well as in midfield
his injury has prevented shea establishing himself as first team regular
just when fitness problems involving united defenders this season gave him
chance of nailing down place in the team
ferguson was in no doubt of what would have happened to shea this season had
the player avoided injury
when you look at all the problems ve had with the back four he could have
played every single one said the united boss
shea will also miss the republic friendly with brazil at premier league
arsenal emirates stadium on march and an end of season training camp
ferguson said the upcoming friendly date was an annoyance for club managers and
questioned its worth to international bosses ahead of june world cup in south
africa
don even think the international managers think they re all that important
now they never play their full team and there always drop outs
mali hostages well says spanish foreign minister
madrid jan afp
three spanish aid workers held hostage since november by the north african
branch of al qaeda are well foreign minister miguel angel moratinos said
thursday
they are well according to the latest information received he told cuatro
television channel underscoring the need for maximum discretion about talks
on their release
the hostages two men and woman were kidnapped on november in mauritania
and then taken to northern mali one of them albert vilalta suffered bullet
wound in one of his legs when he apparently tried to escape
last week spanish government officials viewed video which showed the hostages
were alive el mundo newspaper said
earlier this month el mundo reported that the group had demanded seven million
dollars and the release of several of its members in return for the spanish
hostages
madrid has not confirmed receiving ransom request earlier moratinos said the
