one party rule may continue for long time more pluralistic environment is
evolving
the vietnamese government has hard time now controlling what its citizens read
and think as they travel more widely and explore the internet he said
bulgaria appoints insead professor to help on economy
sofia jan afp
bulgarian prime minister boyko borisov on thursday named economics professor
ilian mihov to his cabinet to oversee the economy and the use of european
funds
ilian mihov will become my deputy premier but must still decide when he will
actually be appointed have his consent on that borisov was quoted by local
media as saying in the town of pernik just outside sofia
want to boost the government in the area of economy and finance borisov
said
mihov holds doctorate in economics from princeton university in the
united states where us federal reserve chief ben bernanke was his thesis
mentor
he is currently professor in macroeconomics at the insead business school near
paris
on wednesday mihov told state bnt television that he would not be immediately
available to take up cabinet post given his current commitments at insead
but was ready to provide any help the premier might need
his appointment may therefore not be announced as part of planned cabinet
reshuffle next week
the prime minister has three deputy premiers and the other two are finance
minister simeon djankov and interior minister tsvetan tsvetanov
mihov who has advised borisov on economic policy since the current
administration took office last july would not be given specific portfolio
and borisov played down suggestions his new deputy premier would be encroaching
on the turf of finance minister djankov
mihov appointment will not in any way take over responsibilities from
djankov the prime minister said
on the contrary in order to fulfill his current responsibilities he djankov
needs hours day
bulgaria names economics professor as new cabinet member
sofia jan afp
bulgarian prime minister boyko borisov thursday named economics professor ilian
mihov to his cabinet to oversee the economy and the use of european funds
ilian mihov will become my deputy premier but must still decide when he will
actually be appointed have his consent on that borisov was quoted by local
media as saying in the town of pernik just outside sofia
want to boost the government in the area of economy and finance borisov
said
the prime minister has three deputy premiers and the other two are finance
minister simeon djankov and interior minister tsvetan tsvetanov
mihov who has advised borisov on economic policy since the current
administration took office last july would not be given specific portfolio
and borisov played down suggestions his new deputy premier would be encroaching
on the turf of finance minister djankov
mihov holds doctorate in economics from the princeton university where
us federal reserve chief ben bernanke was his thesis mentor
he is currently professor in macroeconomics at the insead business school
on wednesday mihov told state bnt television that he would not be immediately
available to take up cabinet post given his current commitments at insead
but was ready to provide any help the premier might need
his appointment may therefore not be announced as part of planned cabinet
reshuffle next week
haiti rescuers save two more amid desperation
port au prince jan afp
rescuers in haiti have pulled two more people from the rubble more than week
after massive magnitude quake but elsewhere desperate crowds fought for
aid being handed out
more than eight days after the devastating tremor which killed at least
and left million homeless rescuers said they could not rule out the
possibility of victims still being alive under the debris
they said the powerful aftershock that shook haiti on wednesday could have
dislodged masonry giving fresh opportunities to free remaining survivors
two children were pulled from collapsed buildings in port au prince on
wednesday
five year old boy was found in the wreckage of his home while neighbors
dragged out an year old girl in another part of the city
mendji bahina sanon was taken to french run field hospital in the
capital clearly struggling with the nightmare as she cried don leave me
mama
makeshift hospitals struggled to treat the tens of thousands of injured
we carried out operations on tuesday in the previous six days we have cared
for more than haitians said french doctor thierry allafort duverger
clinic in the upscale suburb of petionville that normally specialises in plastic
surgery but is now one of special hospitals set up to care for earthquake
victims
thousands of us troops poured and other nations pledged hundreds to help
distribute aid provide medical treatment and try to keep the streets secure
from looters and gangs
in leogane west of port au prince which was almost totally wrecked in the
quake the arrival of two truckloads of flour wheat sugar and beans sparked
fights that delayed distribution
the trucks provided by the catholic relief services aid group were surrounded by
crowd when they parked in the biggest makeshift camp in the city
aid workers tried to distribute box of food to each family but crush and
chaos ensued forcing them to seek assistance from us forces but even
marines failed to prevent more fights and the trucks had to leave for another
spot
the international organisation for migration said thursday at least half
million people are living outdoors in some improvised camps in port au
prince alone and the number was growing
to add to the misery profiteers are also cashing in taking advantage of the
shortages and an influx of foreigners with dollars
the result is record price rises for everything from food and water to phone
cards to taxis while anyone with stash of extra fuel or cigarettes
international efforts are also focusing on rebuilding the country with major
donor conference set for monday in montreal
international monetary fund chief dominique strauss kahn called for
multilateral aid plan on the scale of the us marshall plan that rebuilt europe
after world war ii
haiti ambassador to spain yolette azor charles said reconstruction could
take years and warned the death toll could top as help has yet to
reach many villages
the head of the un food agency said farmers will play key role in haiti
rehabilitation urging immediate support for agriculture ahead of the spring
planting season beginning in march
the priority is to supply them with seeds fertilisers livestock feed and
animal vaccines as well as agricultural tools jacques diouf of the food and
agriculture organisation said
the rebuilding of haiti agricultural infrastructure such as storage
facilities and irrigation canals is all the more urgent in view of the
thousands of people fleeing port au prince for the rural areas diouf said
the united states sent in more troops who had been due to deploy to the
middle east and europe while us general said port au prince port should be up
and running again on friday
backed by three ships and squadron of helicopters the new troops should be in
place by the weekend as the total us forces helping out in haiti swells above
in coming days
bed capacity us naval hospital ship arrived off haiti with about
medical personnel and was ready to start taking on board the worst of the
injured
haitian leaders meanwhile stressed that us forces were welcome and the country
was not under their guardianship in comments to french media on thursday
the american control of the aid effort has raised tensions with some countries
bolivia and venezuela have criticised its heavy presence and france expressed
annoyance after aid planes were delayed from landing
britain increasing pakistan anti terror spending brown
london jan afp
prime minister gordon brown insisted thursday that britain spending on
counter terrorism measures in pakistan was increasing despite the fall in the
value of the pound
counter terrorism expenditure in pakistan and generally is increasing this year
and will increase next year brown said
he added it is important to recognise our counter terrorism effort is also
linking up the efforts of our police forces here and our border control system
which is keeping the country as safe as possible
brown was speaking the day after foreign office minister glenys kinnock said
programmes to tackle terror attacks and radicalisation in pakistan had been cut
because of the weak value of the british currency
but on thursday kinnock moved to clarify her remarks saying the overall
foreign office budget had been hit by the falling value of the pound but
counter terrorism spending was increasing
the foreign office budget for counter terrorism in pakistan will rise from
million pounds million euros million dollars in to
million pounds in she told the house of lords the upper house of
parliament
british officials say number of terror plots aimed at britain have been
planned in and launched from pakistan
kinnock said pakistan was by far the largest recipient of counter terrorism
spending receiving more than quarter of the budget
small number of counter terrorism projects had been cut or scaled back but
the projects affected had not been delivering as effectively as our other
projects she said
gm europe shifts belgian suv output to south korea
brussels jan afp
gm europe will shift production on new line of small suv cars to south korea
under the decision to close major opel plant in belgium with the loss of
jobs
the company new chief executive nick reilly said demand for sports utility
vehicles suv of the type it is to manufacture under an un named brand had
changed significantly since work first began on pre production at antwerp
our projection of how many of those we will manufacture has gone down also
reilly told press conference in brussels after the plant closure during
was announced to unions
he said it would be more economic to build the cars in korea
however employee and union representatives on the company european works
council accused management of illegal action by shifting manufacturing work to
asia
by closing antwerp gm would breach the contract with the european works
council on the production of new small suv which has not been part of the opel
product portfolio so far they said in statement
antwerp employees had already been engaged on the product since with tens
of millions of euros already invested there it added
this vehicle like the antara is now planned to be delivered to europe
from south korea the works council complained
up to jobs in all would be affected by the knock on effects of the
closure
the works council said an offer from the devolved flemish regional government of
million euros some million dollars in financial assistance had been
refused by gm europe
broad restructuring plan is expected to include the elimination of jobs
from total of almost in europe half of whom are in germany
opel needs billion euros billion dollars to finance its plan and
hopes to get billion euros from countries where opel and its british sister
brand vauxhall have operations
azerbajian to double russia gas exports in gazprom
moscow jan afp
azerbaijani gas exports to russia will double next year to about billion
cubic metres russian gas company gazprom said on thursday after talks with the
caucasus republic energy company
in the volume of supplies will total around two billion cubic
metres gazprom said in statement after meeting with azerbajian socar oil
company on thursday
the two sides confirmed an agreement announced by azerbajian energy firm socar
in december that in the company would supply one billion cubic metres of
gas to russia doubling an initial figure
last october socar and gazprom signed contract to pump million cubic
metres of gas annually as moscow seeks to extend its grip on potential european
energy supplies in the hydrocarbons rich caspian sea
under the contract gazprom purchases of azerbaijani gas started on january
this year the price for the gas is to be agreed quarterly based on global
market rates
the agreement on increasing gas supplies may ultimately deprive the european
pipeline project nabucco of portion of gas from azerbaijan
from nabucco rival of the russian south stream gas pipeline plans to
deliver gas from the caspian sea to europe through turkey to reduce europe
dependence on russian supplies
rich in oil and gas and strategically located between russia and iran
azerbaijan has been courted by both moscow and the west since gaining its
independence with the collapse of the soviet union
backed by western governments companies such as britain bp have invested
heavily in its energy sector building corridor of oil and gas pipelines from
azerbaijan through georgia and turkey to europe
azerbaijan last year produced billion cubic metres of natural gas
according to government figures and it expects to nearly double gas production
to billion cubic metres by
the nabucco pipeline is billion euro billion dollar venture to feed
billion cubic metres of natural gas each year from the caspian sea to europe
due to start in
music industry urges piracy action amid falling sales
london jan afp
worldwide music sales have fallen around percent since as piracy has
risen according to figures released thursday by london based body
representing the international recording industry
the international federation of the phonographic industry ifpi said sales
figures had dropped from billion dollars billion euros in to
billion dollars in
with the problem recently highlighted by artists like bono and lily allen
the ifpi is calling for global crackdown on the fundamental problem of
piracy arguing the situation is leading to less investment in new artists
to continue to invest in new artists we have to tackle mass piracy said ifpi
chairman and chief executive john kennedy in new report on digital music
digital piracy remains huge barrier to market growth
specially it wants governments to take further steps to require internet
service providers isps to address the problem
the ifpi report notes the success of legal services like spotify which aims to
attract illegal file sharers by charging some users for access to streamed music
or providing it for free with advertisements interspersed while giving
revenue back to artists
but it argues that even these alternative ways of providing music could be under
threat unless piracy is tackled
the report also highlighted huge jump in the proportion of music bought
digitally between and revenues increased from percent to
percent
the overall digital market is worth an estimated billion dollars
the ifpi represents record companies in countries including warner
music group emi sony music and universal which between them are thought to
control distribution of around percent of the world market
football derby hopes diminsh for midfield trio
rome jan afp
inter milan hopes of patching up an injured midfield trio ahead of sunday
crucial top of the table derby took dent on thursday as none of them trained
brazilian thiago motta ghana muntari sulley and dejan stankovic of serbia all
spent the morning in the physiotherapy room due to muscle problems that could
see them miss the clash against ac milan
if they do all miss the game it would leave coach jose mourinho with major
midfield headache leaving him only two recognised midfielders in javier zanetti
and esteban cambiasso
he would then be forced into playing an attacking formation including four
forwards with playmaker wesley sneijder dropping back into midfield and mario
balotelli and goran pandev flanking diego milito in three pronged attack
the portuguese boss has responded by calling up five youth team players to train
with the first team squad these past three days midifelders sebastian carlsen
lorenzo crisetig and alen stevanovic as well as defenders giulio donati and
felice natalino
inter also announced thursday that the game in which they are the nominal hosts
at the san siro ground they share with milan is sell out and no tickets will
be on sale the day of the match
milan are not without their own injury problems as striker pato and full back
gianluca zambrotta are both definitely out while centre back alessandro nesta
faces race against time to be fit
both teams are in fine form with milan having won and drawn one of their last
league games while inter have won and drawn three of their last in
serie
british bank lloyds says to cut almost jobs
london jan afp
british bank lloyds said on thursday it intended to cut nearly jobs in
another shake up at the state rescued group that has already axed thousands of
positions over the past year
lloyds banking group lbg is announcing today number of changes within its
wholesale and retail divisions it revealed in statement
in addition some insurance work currently administered by third party
supplier based in the uk will be brought back into the group and processed at
its strategic insurance centres in bristol and edinburgh
lbg added there will be net reduction of permanent group jobs across the
uk
the company will shut its black horse personal finance centres with the loss of
positions while another jobs will be axed in the retail division
unite britain biggest trade union slammed the fresh round of job cuts at the
bank which was bailed out by the state in the wake of the global financial
crisis the british taxpayer currently owns percent of lbg
unite is deeply disappointed that the lloyds banking group has taken the
decision to close all of the black horse centres senior unite official rob
macgregor said in separate statement
at time when many families are struggling to control their finances and
businesses need access to credit unite is opposed to the shutting down of these
valued local centres
lbg created in january when lloyds tsb bought rival lender hbos in
state brokered deal has already axed about jobs since the start of
according to the union
unite is warning the lbg not to repeat their approach in where staff
faced death by thousand cuts as weekly announcements of job losses were made
macgregor said
the strategy last year has had devastating effect on staff and created job
insecurity for most colleagues he added
the union said it was seeking redeployment opportunities for those affected by
the latest round of cuts
greece fights for credibility as bonds stocks euro fall
athens jan afp
greece fought on thursday to regain its credibility on financial markets as
greek bonds and stocks fell and the euro also retreated on factors that traders
said included the greek debt and eurozone strains
finance minister george papconstantinou said that the government priority was
regaining confidence on the markets
he told conference here that the priority of the government is to do away with
the lack of credibility in the greek economy on the markets the athens news
agency reported
the conference was organised by the banker magazine in the financial times
group
but since wednesday the market in greek government bonds has been volatile
owing to doubts among investors about measures the greek government is bringing
forward to stabilise the economy and satisfy authorities at the european
commission and european central bank
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
greek public finances are under severe strain this coupled with misreporting of
greek statistics in the past has severely shaken the confidence of investors in
what the government says it will do to turn the economy around and whether it
will apply the emasures
the price of greek bonds fell on wednesday with the result that the fixed
income or yield they generate relative to the price of the bond rose to
percent from percent late on tuesday
this yield is an indictaor of the interest the greek government will have to
offer to attract lenders to provide the funds it needs to cover huge budget
deficit including big interest payments on past debt
the strains from greece eurozone country have raised deep concern about
cohesion of the eurozone and have also focused attention on other countries with
perceived problems in their public finances notably portugal but also ireland
and to lesser extent italy
on thursday the difference beyween the yield on greek bonds and the price at
which germany can borrow money for years the benchmark for the eurozone
widenened to more than percentage points but then narrowed to
percentage points in the space of an hour
greek stock prices also fell sharply on thursday showing fall of percent
at about mid day and going below points on the main stock index to
points
meanwhile in london the euro dropped to five month low point to to the
dollar
traders there said that the main new factor was doubt about the sustainability
of chinese growth which undermined risk sensitive currencies but that the
national debt strains in the eurozone were one of the factors raising perceived
risk for the euro there is particular concern about portuguese public finances
as soon as markets had digested the situation in greece it now portugal
turn commerzbank analyst antje praefcke said
cyberattackers need consequences hillary clinton
washington jan afp
in the wake of cyber attacks on google allegedly by china us secretary of
state hillary clinton will say in major speech on the internet thursday that
those perpetrating such attacks should face consequences
countries or individuals that engage in cyber attacks should face consequences
and international condemnation clinton will say in an address at the newseum
in washington according to excerpts of her remarks prepared for delivery
in an interconnected world an attack on one nation networks can be an attack
on all clinton will say
web security experts and analysts interviewed by afp have said it is almost
impossible to prove who is behind particular cyber attack and noted that
companies rarely come forward and admit that they have been targeted
football arsenal gibbs out for season
london jan afp
arsenal defender kieran gibbs has been ruled out of the remainder of the season
after it was announced he was to undergo surgery on his foot injury
gibbs broke bone in his left foot in tackle with eliaquim manga of belgian
club standard liege during champions league match in november
but the facture has failed to heal fully and gibbs is now due to have bone
graft in order to help him make complete recovery
the year old is expected to be sidelined for five months ruling him out of
the remainder of season where premier league leaders arsenal are mounting an
impressive challenge for the english title and ending gibbs hopes of being
included in fabio capello world cup squad
needless to say gutted there just no other word england under
international gibbs told the official arsenal magazine
the other option to surgery would have been to wait and let the bone grow in my
foot but we didn want to do that because have to wait another six weeks
just to have another scan
run the risk of it carrying on into next season and we don want to do
that
left back gibbs added now just looking to recover from the injury work
really hard and be ready for next season
arsenal do have cover at left back with french youngster armand traore on ready
to come in if first choice gael clichy is unavailable
iraqis protest in support of saddam candidates ban
karbala iraq jan afp
thousands of iraqis held rallies in the mainly shiite cities of basra karbala
and najaf on thursday in support of decision to bar election candidates linked
to executed dictator saddam hussein
election organisers have banned from the march vote more than candidates
said to be members of saddam outlawed baath party or former employees of his
once deadly military and intelligence network
amid an increasingly tense political atmosphere however president jalal
talabani who is 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
hundreds of thousands of people were forced to join the party because
membership was mandatory talabani told reporters in baghdad we should not be
unjust with them
asked whether the timing of the ban was wise just six weeks before the poll he
replied wish this decision had been taken another time
in the central shrine city of karbala around people took to the streets
to support the ban which has caused alarm at the white house and the united
nations
in shrine city of najaf further 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 demonstrators in najaf and basra also demanded that the parliamentary
immunity of leading sunni arab mp dhafer al ani be lifted charging that he was
an apologist for the banned baath
ani from the national concord bloc is among the candidates excluded from
standing in the election
baath party membership was key condition for obtaining job and gaining
promotion in public sector employment during saddam regime
controversial 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
obama to propose size limits for banks
washington jan afp
president barack obama is expected thursday to propose 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
the measures would see sweeping new restrictions on how banks operate and could
force the dramatic shake up of sector seen as responsible for sparking the
largest recession since the great depression of the
couple of months ago the president began discussing with his economic team
the need to include in financial reform more specific and stronger provisions to
limit the size and scope of financial institutions senior administration
official told afp
the proposals are also expected to cut down on excessive risk taking by
barring banks from some lucrative in house trading operations known as
proprietary trading
on thursday the president will announce series of measures that address
size and scope of the institutions the official said the proposal will
include size and complexity limits specifically on proprietary trading
the announcement is expected to be made alongside paul volcker former
chairman of the us federal reserve who has fought to reinstate depression era
rules that separated investment and commercial banking operations
such move could force major banks like goldman sachs to choose which route to
take or force others to hive off some parts of their business
the new measures will have to be approved by congress before becoming law
obama first year in office was dominated by efforts to rescue handful of
banks that threatened to topple the us economy after being exposed to massive
loses on the sub prime mortgage market
as well as restricting risky trading size cap could stop the emergence of
firms with the ability to choke the flow of cash to the us economy by reducing
lending as they hit trouble
according to treasury officials about billion dollars was pumped into
banks under the government rescue plans
obama has sounded tougher tone towards banks in recent weeks as he faced
widespread voter anger at the massive government bail out which came as
americans faced surging unemployment home foreclosures and national debt
last week the president announced new fee on major banking firms to recover
every single dime taxpayers shelled out to rescue wall street from the
economic crisis
the plan if approved by congress would raise billion dollars from big
financial institutions including foreign banks operating in the united states
under an effort to recoup money from massive bailout of the banking sector
he also fired warned the banking industry not to block or water down his
planned regulatory reforms
it is both in the country interests and ultimately in the financial
industry interest to have updated rules of the road to prevent abuse and
excess
firefighters drench brussels government offices in protest
brussels jan afp
some firefighters thursday soaked government buildings in central brussels
and sprayed foam over main road artery to press for speedier promotions
the angry emergency workers who brought along fire trucks for the colourful
demo aimed their water and foam hoses at several official buildings including
that of the brussels region devolved government leader
the protesters also used their ladders to get onto the roof of administrative
buildings as sirens wailed below
main brussels road and several side streets were coated with liberal layer
of fire smothering foam blocking traffic in the busy area
the firefighters also changed roles for the day lighting small fires on the
roads before putting them out
azerbaijan to double russia gas exports in gazprom
moscow jan afp
azerbaijani gas exports to russia will double next year to around billion
cubic meters russian gas company gazprom said thursday after talks with the
