out whether they want to head the same way
we will be studying the proposals in detail to see where the us and
international proposals align with what is already being discussed in terms of
reforms in britain said the british bankers association on thursday
the country banks are listening and they are changing working with our
regulators and the international authorities to restore confidence in the
world financial system said the group in statement
they added discussions were ongoing on whether further measures are necessary
obama announcement thursday sought to roll back corporate excesses and limit
dangerous risk taking blamed by many for sparking the worst economic crisis
since the great depression
it was also the latest attempt by the white house to harness popular fury at
wall street bonuses and tight credit markets
the president struck defiant tone at the white house warning if these folks
want fight it fight ready to have
us military build up on guam worries islanders
hagatna jan afp
residents of the us territory of guam fear the planned influx of thousands of
american troops and their families will leave their pacific island home swamped
around personnel and their families are set to relocate to guam from
southern japan in move that will treble the us military presence on the
island
but despite proclaimed economic benefits not all of the strong
population is looking forward to the troops arrival
this proposed military build up with our current political status will result
in the cultural and racial genocide of the chamorro people said frank
schacher chairman of the chamorro tribe inc group representing the island
indigenous people who make up third of the population
it is our island our ancestral remains our sacred artifacts our waters our
culture and our right to exist as race that would be destroyed by these
intended actions
it is long time since the chamorro have been masters of their own destiny
spain controlled the island for more than two hundred years until the late th
century when it was taken over by the united states and it was occupied by
japan during world war ii
in washington and tokyo agreed to shift thousands of marines from okinawa
after complaints that with half of the country us military personnel
the island was over burdened
guam us congress delegate madeleine bordallo hailed the plan as great
opportunity for the territory the local government and the business community
have also welcomed an expected economic boom fuelled by the build up
we acknowledge the unprecedented growth that lies ahead guam governor felix
camacho said recently
our future however will test our resolve and we will be called upon to
display our commitment to doing what is good and right for our people
an page us defense department draft environmental impact statement said
the military expansion would strain the island limited infrastructure
healthcare and ecology
the study says the relocation costing up to billion dollars would bring
marines army personnel and about dependents to guam
more than foreign workers would also be needed to build wharves aircraft
carrier berths roads military barracks and homes
the guam chamber of commerce an early supporter of the relocation said it was
not oblivious to growing scepticism within the community
we re the voice of the businesses but our members all live in guam too so
we re looking out for the best interests of our businesses and the community at
large and so we re looking at everything chamber president david leddy said
there are positive and negative impacts we just have to weigh the positive and
negative and see what good for the people
about third of guam square kilometres square miles is already
owned by the us government mainly for military use and it wants to buy another
acres hectares as part of the troop transfer
lands that our ancestors fought for are passed down from one generation to the
next until they are indiscriminately taken away for purposes other than
sustaining and nourishing the family clan said gloria nelson whose
property is being eyed by the department of defense
melvin won pat one of the founders of new activist group opposed to the
build up said it was false to suggest the move was supported by the wider
community
think lot of our people have been misled into believing the general
population is in full support of this move he said
the department of defense joint guam project office which is in charge of the
relocation has held series of public meetings to discuss the draft report
but some locals remain sceptical
refuse to dignify this whole charade resident filamore alcon palomo said
attending public hearings would just be waste of time because know
everybody knows this is done deal the military won listen to us they
will do what they want to do
last decade warmest ever nasa
washington jan afp
the past decade was the warmest ever on earth new analysis of global surface
temperatures released by nasa showed thursday
the us space agency also found that was the second warmest year on record
since modern temperature measurements began in last year was only small
fraction of degree cooler than the warmest yet putting in
virtual tie with the other hottest years which have all occurred since
according to james hansen who heads nasa goddard institute for space studies
global temperatures change due to variations in ocean heating and cooling
when we average temperature over five or years to minimize that variability
we find global warming is continuing unabated hansen said in statement
strong la nina effect that cooled the tropical pacific ocean made the
coolest year of the decade according to the new york based institute
in analyzing the data nasa scientists found clear warming trend although
leveling off took place in the and
the records showed that temperatures trended upward by about degrees
fahrenheit celsius per decade over the past years average global
temperatures have increased total of about degrees fahrenheit
celsius since
that the important number to keep in mind said gavin schmidt
climatologist with the institute
the difference between the second and sixth warmest years is trivial because
the known uncertainty in the temperature measurement is larger than some of the
differences between the warmest years
last year near record temperatures took place despite an unseasonably cool
december in much of north america and warmer than normal arctic with frigid
air from the arctic rushing into the region while warmer mid latitude air
shifted northward the institute said
the analysis was based on weather data from over thousand meteorological
stations worldwide satellite observations of sea surface temperatures and
antarctic research station measurements
but the newly released figures were unlikely to quell heated climate debate
the so called climategate controversy that exploded last fall on the eve of
un sponsored climate talks unleashed furor over whether the planet was heating
and if so at what pace
hundreds of emails intercepted from scientists at britain university of east
anglia top center for climate research have been seized upon by skeptics as
evidence that experts twisted data in order to dramatize global warming
world powers agreed at the copenhagen climate summit last month to seek to
prevent average global temperatures from rising beyond degrees fahrenheit
two celsius above pre industrial levels in order to halt the most devastating
effects of global warming
there contradiction between the results shown here and popular perceptions
about climate trends hansen said in the last decade global warming has not
stopped
japan nikkei stock index tumbles more than three percent
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks tumbled more than three percent on friday after wall street
slumped in response to plan by us president barack obama to limit the size and
scope of us banks
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index declined or
percent to in early afternoon trade
investors followed the lead of the dow jones index which suffered its worst
fall of the year after obama said he wanted to put limits on banks to avoid
repeat of the financial crisis that sent shockwaves around the world
it inevitable that new york shares tumbled on tighter financial regulations
funds are flowing out of risk assets for now said hideaki higashi
strategist at smbc friend securities
as the financial sector accounts for large share of the us economy the
tighter regulation on it could adversely affect the overall economy which is
bound to impact japan economy he said
the plans are aimed at limiting excessive risk taking to protect taxpayers
they seek to prevent banks or finance institutions from owning investing in or
sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
tokyo stocks were also hit by stronger yen which triggered fresh worries
about the outlook for japanese exports
the dollar fell to yen down from in new york late thursday
tokyo was hit by overnight drops in europe and the united states as well as the
yen rise said nikko cordial broker hiroichi nishi
selling is prevailing all the more because tokyo enjoyed rises recently
japanese shares hit month high last week prompting concerns that the
market might be overheating
shares in bankrupt japan airlines fell to the rock bottom price of one yen one
us cent before rebounding to two yen the same as thursday close
tennis no big deal says jankovic after open defeat
melbourne jan afp
jelena jankovic insisted her defeat at the australian open friday was no big
deal and she said it was matter of time before she rediscovered the form that
made her to world number one
nevertheless the third round loss to st seeded ukrainian alona
bondarenko was miserable end to the tournament for player who was the best
in the world this time last year
it just the beginning of the year it no big deal the philosophical
eighth seed said it only my second tournament of the year
and player who likes to play lot of matches the more play the
better get and the more dangerous get
just have to stay positive keep my head up high
know what have to work on she added
feel like my game is improving and feel like really can raise my level
and be up there and my goal is to come back to the top again
the serb failed to live up to her potential in when she arrived here as top
seed and her big match credentials were again found wanting on friday when she
was comprehensively outplayed
jankovic made unforced errors and served up four double faults as her game
deserted her under the hot sun on hisense arena
she was in trouble from the start when she was broken in the first game by the
in form bondarenko who won the lead in tournament in hobart last week
bondarenko broke twice more in the first set and twice in the second as she
eased to her first win in matches against jankovic and fourth round clash
with frenchwoman marion bartoli or china zheng jie
think for me it was big challenge kind of an uphill battle for me
jankovic said of her loss
made lot of errors especially in the beginning
thought especially in the beginning of the first set thought had some
opportunities and she came up with some good shots from the defence
then the momentum went her way in the beginning which allowed her to get some
confidence
but overall struggled didn serve well and my opponent played really
well
it was bondarenko first win against jankovic
played her nine times before this match and every match lost but know
can play good and feel good with my game right now and just tried to play
every point well bondarenko said adding that she wasn done yet
every match is tough and you need to concentrate on every match
if play just as good in the next match then maybe can win we ll see
philippines probes reported us killing of wanted militant
zamboanga philippines jan afp
philippine authorities said friday they were investigating reports that one of
the country most wanted islamic militants may have been killed by us missile
strike in pakistan
abdul basit usman was among several people believed killed on january in us
drone attack that targeted pakistani taliban leader hakimullah mehsud in
remote area of northern pakistan according to various media reports
if the reports are true then it is good news for us because the killing of
basit usman means one less terrorist on the street lieutenant general benjamin
dolorfino military commander in the southwestern philippines told afp
but he added we still have to verify the reports
dolorfino said usman was involved in many deadly bombings in the southern
philippines mindanao region where muslim insurgents have waged decades old
separatist rebellion in which more than people have died
the us government has offered one million dollar bounty for information leading
to usman capture according to its rewards for justice website
the website run by the us state department described him as bomb making
expert with links to the abu sayyaf philippines militant organisation blamed
for the nation worst attacks
it also said he had links to jemaah islamiyah southeast asian islamic
extremist group that is linked to al qaeda and been blamed for major attacks
including the bali bombings in indonesia that killed people
us authorities consider basit to be threat to us and filipino citizens and
interests basit is believed to have orchestrated several bombings that have
killed injured and maimed many innocent civilians the website said
the philippine military previously said usman also had links to the moro islamic
liberation front milf the nation largest muslim guerrilla group that has
led the long running rebellion in the south
milf spokesman eid kabalu said it was also looking into the reports usman had
been killed while reiterating the group position that it was not involved
with him
we are trying to verify those reports kabalu said
as far as we know usman had links with jemaah islamiyah and al qaeda and
could be fighting alongside the taliban which has links with al qaeda
japan nikkei stock index tumbles more than three percent
tokyo japan jan afp
japanese stocks tumbled more than three percent on friday after wall street
slumped in response to plan by us president barack obama to limit the size and
scope of us banks
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index declined or
percent to in early afternoon trade
investors followed the lead of the dow jones index which suffered its worst
fall of the year after obama said he wanted to put limits on banks to avoid
repeat of the financial crisis that sent shockwaves around the world
it inevitable that new york shares tumbled on tighter financial regulations
funds are flowing out of risk assets for now said hideaki higashi
strategist at smbc friend securities
as the financial sector accounts for large share of the us economy the
tighter regulation on it could adversely affect the overall economy which is
bound to impact japan economy he said
the plans are aimed at limiting excessive risk taking to protect taxpayers
they seek to prevent banks or finance institutions from owning investing in or
sponsoring hedge fund or private equity funds
shares in bankrupt japan airlines fell to the rock bottom price of one yen one
us cent briefly before rebounding to two yen the same as thursday close
top british music acts in auction for haiti quake victims
london jan afp
top british music acts offered friday dazzling array of gifts from guitars to
live concert in your garden to be auctioned off to raise money for haiti
quake victims
coldplay and the arctic monkeys are among the bands who have come together for
the special internet sell off to raise funds for charity oxfam work in the
devastated caribbean nation
among the items is jacket worn by coldplay frontman chris martin during tour
and guitar used by alex turner from the arctic monkeys
visited haiti with oxfam few years ago it country of extreme poverty
and brutal living conditions said martin
the earthquake that has struck haiti will have turned the city into an
unimaginable hell
also up for grabs are vip tickets to the glastonbury festival world famous
music and performing arts event in southwest england which organisers expect to
be attended by up to revellers this summer
other items are specially written piece of music by damon albarn singer from
group blur and painting donated by scottish songstress annie lennox
the band the magic numbers will also come and play an acoustic set in the house
or garden of the highest bidder
the auction goes live on website ebay at am gmt friday and runs for
days with all proceeds going to oxfam rescue and recovery work on haiti
more items will be added to the auction over the coming days oxfam said
the auction came after british television and music mogul simon cowell revealed
plans to organise charity single to benefit victims of the haiti earthquake
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
japan nikkei stock index tumbles more than three percent
tokyo japan jan afp
japanese stocks tumbled more than three percent on friday after wall street
slumped in response to plan by us president barack obama to limit the size and
scope of us banks
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index declined or
percent to in early afternoon trade
it inevitable that new york shares tumbled on tighter financial regulations
funds are flowing out of risk assets for now said hideaki higashi
strategist at smbc friend securities
oil dips below dollars barrel
singapore jan afp
oil prices dipped below dollars in asian trade friday extending losses on
data showing weaker demand in the united states the world biggest energy
consuming nation
new york main contract light sweet crude for march delivery tumbled cents
to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march shed cents to dollars
the doe report was not very bullish the refineries capacities were down at
around percent and that was their lowest in the two decades said serene
lim singapore based oil analyst with the anz bank
the us department of energy doe said thursday that gasoline reserves in the
world biggest economy increased by stronger than expected million
barrels in the week ending january striking two year high
however us crude stocks fell barrels according to the doe report
confounding expectations of large gain of million barrels
it said refineries operated at percent of capacity last week their lowest
rate in at least two decades apart from the immediate aftermath of hurricane
moves by china the world second biggest energy consumer to slow down its
roaring economy also weighed on traders minds
think people are very concerned about what the chinese government would do
next to curb the consumption demand growth said lim
crude futures sank almost dollars on wednesday on market concerns that
credit squeeze in china and swelling us stockpiles could dampen demand for the
key commodity traders said
china red hot economy expanded percent in the december quarter and by
percent for the whole of
urgent japan nikkei stock index tumbles more than three percent
tokyo jan afp
japan nikkei stock index tumbled more than three percent on friday after wall
street slumped in response to plan by us president barack obama to limit the
size and scope of us banks
alert
japan nikkei stock index tumbles more than three percent
corrected flush goldman sachs seeks to soothe bonus outrage
new york jan afp
goldman sachs posted huge forecast shattering profits thursday as the
banking giant moved to deflect criticism about lavish bonuses to be paid from
billion dollars reserved for compensation
the prime target for public outrage over big bonuses goldman sachs said it was
scaling back its money for employee compensation in the face of criticism that
it weathered the financial crisis thanks to government aid
the bank reported net profit of billion dollars in the fourth quarter for
all of net profit leapt to billion dollars sixfold increase from
billion dollars in
think the people of goldman sachs did great job this year finance chief
david viniar told reporters
the firm said it had allotted billion dollars in for compensation
including bonuses and benefits rise of percent from year earlier in
absolute terms
but chairman and chief executive lloyd blankfein said the pay and benefits
outlay had been reduced overall as recognition of the broader environment
resulting in our lowest ever compensation to net revenues ratio at
percent down from percent year earlier
the wall street giant said that fourth quarter compensation had been reduced to
fund charitable contribution of million dollars to one of the firm
philanthropy programs aimed at stimulating us economic growth and job creation
on average each of the bank employees would have received nearly
dollars in compensation and benefits in
viniar who said that the majority of the reductions would affect top
executives insisted we re not blind to the calls for restraint and we heard
them
goldman sachs one of the most successful survivors of the financial crisis had
announced in december it would pay bonuses to top executives in stock instead of
cash
in the fourth quarter at the height of the financial crisis goldman sachs
posted its first loss and received billion dollars in government aid that it
has since repaid
us government assistance has been unpopular particularly as unemployment
remained high and the white house has promised to hold banking institutions
accountable
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail president barack obama said thursday in announcing new banking
rules
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 obama remarks but said trying to regulate by
pure size is very dangerous thing to do
blankfein said the bank performed well throughout the year particularly during
the most difficult conditions
earnings per share in the fourth quarter were dollars shattering the
average analyst forecast of dollars
net revenues were billion dollars slightly below the billion dollars
expected
the quarterly profit compared with year earlier loss of billion dollars
amid the financial sector meltdown following the lehman brothers collapse that
year ended on november in the bank previous reporting calendar
the bank whose principal activities are investment banking and trading said it
ranked first worldwide in global mergers and acquisitions in
net revenues in investment banking surged to billion dollars in the fourth
quarter up percent from the third quarter and percent higher than year
earlier
asked about report that the firm will slash bonuses for london staff because
of new british tax on the payments viniar said for the moment nothing is
percent
late last year the british government slapped percent tax rate on bank
large bonuses in an attempt to recoup cash spent rescuing the financial sector
goldman robust earnings added to the mixed results the struggling sector began
reporting wednesday as the fourth quarter corporate results season got
underway
bank of america the biggest us bank by assets posted worse than expected
results loss of million dollars while morgan stanley managed profit of
million dollars and wells fargo topped expectations with net income of
billion dollars
analysts said the overall banking sector appeared to be still hampered by
difficult economic conditions and that profitability was largely driven by
trading and investment activities
australia new zealand order review of bible gunsights
sydney jan afp
australia friday ordered its military to look at removing biblical references
from weapons used by troops in afghanistan after new zealand banned the
completely inappropriate inscriptions
australia defence minister john faulkner said the military had been unaware of
the meaning of the letters and numbers etched into the us made gunsights which
refer to passages in the new testament
have asked defence to examine the options available to deal with this matter
without compromising the safety of our troops and critically important
capabilities faulkner said
faulkner comments came as neighbouring new zealand condemned the inscriptions
as potentially inflammatory
they cause the same problems as putting slogans on bombs we should not be
doing anything that might give opponents any propaganda leverage new zealand
defence minister wayne mapp told afp
the markings are completely inappropriate and the defence force will be looking
at ways to get rid of them now and for future deliveries
the rifle sights are inscribed with lettering such as jn an apparent
reference to chapter eight verse in the book of john which reads then
spake jesus again unto them saying am the light of the world he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life
australia and new zealand both have forces operating in afghanistan and there
are fears that the references could endanger coalition troops fighting in
muslim majority nations where the us military is already bitterly resented
the new zealand defence force has of the rifle sights which come from the
us company trijicon while australia military has some
trijicon which also supplies us and british forces said it has inscribed
references to the new testament on the metal casings of its gunsights for more
than two decades
but after angry reaction from muslim and religious freedom groups to the news
that it has multimillion dollar contracts to supply hundreds of thousands of the
gunsights to the us military the firm said it would provide the us with kits to
remove the references
the australian defence force which has around troops in afghanistan said
it was unaware of the significance of the hard to spot references which are in
raised lettering immediately following the stock number on the metal casing of
the gunsights when it purchased the rifle sights
the sights were procured because they provide mature technology which is highly
reliable in wide use by our allies and best meet defence requirements
department spokeswoman said
the department of defence is very conscious of the sensitivities associated
with this issue and is assessing how to address these as soon as practicable
tennis safina buries melbourne ghosts to reach last
melbourne jan afp
dinara safina buried some of her ghosts when she raced into the fourth
round of the australian open on friday expressing relief at getting through her
match on rod laver arena
it was her first appearance on melbourne centre court since last year
australian open final when she imploded spectacularly under the pressure of the
occasion to lose to serena williams in straight sets
there was sparser crowd this time round to witness her thrashing of
england elena baltacha but the second seed still took heart from winning
return to the scene of one of her worst days in tennis
didn have good memories of the last match played on rod laver arena for
sure said the world number two
am glad to be back and had to fight hard and make sure won to forget the
bad memories
played some unbelievable matches on this court last year saving match points
and things but had that one bad match
safina simply overpowered the unseeded baltacha winning in under an hour
the russian hit winners in another improved performance while her english
opponent managed just four
she arrived in melbourne with question marks over her chances of maiden grand
slam win as she returned from the back injury that hampered her in late
however the year old has yet to drop set in three matches and has looked
more comfortable each time she has stepped on court
safina agreed she simply overpowered the rd ranked baltacha
my game is trying to put pressure on opponent she said managed to dictate
from the first point of the match
think was doing everything right and during the match was trying to do it
more and more to give her less and less time
think it was very solid match from my side pretty satisfied with
everything did
safina seeking her first grand slam singles title having lost three finals in
the previous two years said there was still considerable room for improvement
as the tournament progresses
think it was about seven out of she said
it doesn matter by the score that won easier there are still some moments
in some games that could do better
the more matches going to play going to try to do more and more things
and feel more and more comfortable on the court
safina could face fellow russian maria kirilenko in the fourth round and appears
in favourable section of the draw
one of the belgian comeback duo of kim clijsters or justine henin is likely to
be her semi final opponent if she reaches that far
asia markets tumble on obama banks crackdown
hong kong jan afp
financial firms bore the brunt of the pain as stock markets tumbled in asia on
friday after us president barack obama said he would crack down on wall street
reckless big banks
regional investors followed the lead of the dow jones index which suffered its
worst fall of the year after obama said he wanted to put limits on banks to
avoid repeat of the financial crisis that sent shockwaves around the world
asia financial centres were hammered with hong kong two percent down in early
trade while tokyo slumped percent sydney gave up percent and
singapore dropped percent
never again will the american taxpayer be held hostage by bank that is too
big to fail vowed obama
the president thursday unveiled plans to limit excessive risk taking and
protect us taxpayers by preventing banks or financial institutions from
