the firm quarterly profit amounted to dollars per share in leap from
the dollars per share or billion dollars in net profit in the final
three months of
apple said it sold million macintosh computers during the quarter
percent more than year ago and million iphones up percent from
year ago
however sales of ipods slid eight percent to million units in year over
year comparison of quarters
we are very pleased to have generated billion dollars in cash during the
quarter said apple chief financial officer peter oppenheimer
oppenheimer said apple expects revenue in the current fiscal quarter to range
from billion to billion dollars and for diluted earnings per share to
wind up between to dollars
ebrd wants percent capital boost president
london jan afp
the european bank for reconstruction and development plans to boost its capital
by percent by its president said on monday
thomas mirow said he hoped the next annual ebrd meeting of shareholder
countries in zagreb in may would approve increasing capital from its current
level of billion euros billion dollars to billion
the bank which focuses on the former soviet bloc also wanted to increase its
annual investment from billion euros to nine billion euros between and
mirow said
speaking to journalists at the ebrd headquarters in london mirow said he was
fairly optimistic that consensus could be reached
he said he found it remarkable that the economic crisis had not caused any major
political setbacks
historic experience has shown that when societies undergo severe crises there
is risk of political unrest he said
the growth in investment was needed in order to prevent any political
destabilisation in the region
last week the ebrd raised its gross domestic product growth forecast for
the ex soviet bloc countries in which it invests which were badly hit by the
economic crisis from percent to percent
the ebrd investment zone which comprises countries and was one of the areas
worst hit by the global economic crisis shrank by six percent in
the area which also includes mongolia romania and turkmenistan was forecast
to grow by percent in the london based bank said last week
clinton plays down haiti aid controversy
montreal jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton on monday sought to address concerns over
the us role in supervising haiti relief efforts after devastating earthquake
the international community must ensure we are working in sync aid
coordination has long been challenge in haiti even before the earthquake
clinton said at donors meeting in montreal
we must find better mechanisms for coordination oversight and accountability
to ensure that aid and investments are used effectively
washington has taken frontline role in the disaster relief effort since the
january quake sending in troops as well as rescue teams and anchoring
hospital ship offshore to treat injured haitians
on sunday italy top disaster official guido bertolaso criticized the lack of
coordinated international aid effort in haiti saying that the united states
had too many officers there and could not find capable leader
italian foreign affairs minister franco frattini who briefly met with clinton
in washington ahead of the montreal meeting sought to soothe tensions by
recognizing us efforts at monday talks
canadian prime minister stephen harper also alluded to criticisms saying north
american nations know the conditions on the ground maybe better than others
who have the best intentions but are seeing things from farther away
clinton responded by calling on all donor nations to evaluate the progress of
relief efforts honestly and to have the courage to change strategies in haiti if
necessary
clinton also repeated an earlier promise that the united states would not
abandon haiti and will remain its long term partner
she urged conference delegates to begin thinking now about the transition from
disaster relief to long term investment in haiti and preserve the current
grouping of donor nations
clinton said in washington earlier after meeting with frattini that the
international effort could not succeed without additional military assets
it just easier for the united states to get there first because haiti is our
neighbor she said
leading medical journal the lancet last week accused major aid organisations of
corporate preening and self interest that had contributed to bedlam in the
effort to help haiti
left leaning venezuela and bolivia have criticized the united states for its
response to the quake accusing us forces of occupying the country rather than
helping its people
the disaster killed around people and left million others homeless
according to haitian officials
caracas police dispel students vp resigns amid media crisis
caracas jan afp
venezuelan police on monday used truncheons and tear gas to disperse scores of
angry students protesting government shutdown of six television stations
including one opposed to president hugo chavez government
as the media crisis heated up the country vice president ramon carrizalez
who also holds the title of defense minister announced his resignation monday
and while rumors at the weekend alleged he was to resign over his simmering
differences with chavez the vice president said he was leaving for personal
reasons
the students who had blocked access to roads near the university vowed not to
be dissuaded from taking to the streets to express their displeasure over the
latest move by chavez to advance his socialist agenda and control of the country
since he took office in
we won be deterred regardless of what the government does said roderick
navarro student leader from the central university of venezuela one day after
the closure of the stations
the government ordered the closure of the television stations on sunday for
refusing to broadcast chavez speeches as required under law passed in
december
under the new measure every television or radio station whose programming is at
least percent venezuelan made is considered national media outlet
the measure requires among other mandates that national media outlets air
speeches by chavez and other top officials as well as government announcements
but chavez critics view many of those speeches which can last for hours as
government propaganda
in addition to the opposition station rctv the dropped channels include ritmo
son momentum america tv american network and tv chile
journalism and human rights groups have expressed concern over the muzzling of
press freedoms and have called for peaceful protests against the law
carrizalez who had been vice president since said the reasons for his
departure were strictly personal
my resignation is not the result of any discrepancy with government decisions
and any other version about my reasons for resigning is false and malicious
carrizales said in statement
his resignation over alleged differences with chavez had been rumored since
saturday
carrizalez wife and environment minister yubiri ortega also resigned her
post
the united states said the us embassy in caracas raised its concerns about the
new law with venezuelan authorities at the weekend
any time the government shuts down an independent network that is an area of
concern and we will continue to voice those concerns to any government
including the government of venezuela said us state department spokesman
philip crowley
tv chile suspension is only temporary and will soon be broadcasting again
once it registers properly as an international television channel in caracas
said the head of venezuela cable television chamber
however opposition lawmakers in santiago are pressing chilean president
michelle bachelet to take strong stand before chavez and demand respect for
chilean institutions
officials in caracas said the government would be willing to reverse the
shutdown of rctv if it stops its opposition to the law and totally revamps its
programming over the next few months
the blackout rankled venezuelans who missed sunday much anticipated final game
of local baseball championship
only real asylum seekers welcome in france sarkozy
paris jan afp
president nicolas sarkozy warned on monday that more than kurdish migrants
detained in france will be expelled if they are not genuine asylum seekers
the migrants had faced possible deportation when they were detained after
fetching up on beach in corsica in rare mass landing on french soil but
judges ordered they be released so they could apply for asylum
those who are political refugees will be welcomed sarkozy in televised
interview on monday evening those who are not will be sent home
the adults and children most of whom say they are ethnic kurds from syria
were found on beach on the mediterranean island after being landed by
traffickers who have not been caught
they told french authorities they were brought by truck from syria to tunisia
for up to euros dollars each and put on cargo vessel which
dropped them near southern corsica on friday
the migrants were transferred to processing centres on the french mainland but
judges in southern marseille nimes and northwestern rennes ordered to be
freed on sunday ruling that the state had no legal grounds to detain them
in eastern lyon judge freed further on monday and others were also
released in the southern city of toulouse
migrants told the court in lyon they fled syria because as kurds their rights
were abused there and that they planned to file for asylum
in syria was not considered human year old jumsid ali told the court
risked my life to come to france and am sure that if return to syria will
risk death
at least of the adults in the group have already filed for asylum the
immigration ministry said and the others were expected to follow suit
the interior ministry told afp that as soon as the migrants filed for asylum
applications any local procedure to deport them was overruled the asylum
process can take months
it was corsica biggest known mass scale landing of migrants who tend to try
to enter europe by sea via italy malta greece or spain canary islands
migrants from africa have sometimes landed hungry and dehydrated after days at
sea on dangerous flimsy vessels and many have died in the attempt
however officials who questioned friday arrivals in corsica said the migrants
were in good health and spirits the men were clean shaven and some of the women
were even wearing make up
immigration minister eric besson said it was still not certain exactly how they
had made their way from syria to corsica
one source close to the investigation said they may have sailed not from tunisia
but from nearby sardinia an italian island
besson announced plans to boost patrols to stop illegal migrants reaching the
european union and to target traffickers
after meeting with maritime and immigration authorities he said he had
ordered them to develop coordinated strategy to fight illegal immigration by
sea
he also called in statement for new measures at national european and
international level
sarkozy right wing government has taken hard line on immigration in
september it closed down major camp for afghan migrants in the channel port of
calais
will not let france lower its guard against wave of migrants arriving on
rafts as happened in italy the president said on monday
obama aide seeks greater pakistan action
washington jan afp
president barack obama national security adviser on monday called for pakistan
to see greater urgency in the fight against extremism and pledged that
washington was committed for the long haul
retired general james jones said that the role of pakistan was critical for the
future of the region where the united states is pouring thousands more troops
into afghanistan to fight al qaeda and taliban extremists
it is beyond question that the speed with which we re able to achieve our goals
in afghanistan has relationship to the willingness of pakistan to take on the
fact that safe havens exist in the border region jones said at the center for
american progress think tank
jones said the obama administration would make sure we do everything we can
to convince them of the urgency of the moment not just for afghanistan but
for pakistan and the region itself
us officials have long been concerned that elements in the pakistani
establishment support extremists despite the nation offensives against
taliban strongholds in border areas
jones paid quiet visit to islamabad in november in which he was widely
reported to be disappointed about pakistani leaders commitment to targeting al
qaeda extremists on their soil
but jones said that the united states understood pakistani concerns and sought
longer term relationship pointing to giant new us aid package aimed at
boosting infrastructure and democratic institutions
we are entering new strategic relationship jones said in which the united
states is not just interested in short term relationship but long term
relationship that will affect beneficially the future of pakistan as democracy
in areas far beyond security
during visit to islamabad last week defense secretary robert gates promised
to rebuild trust with pakistan and said the united states had committed
grave mistake by scaling back ties with pakistan after both countries worked
to drive the soviets out of afghanistan in the
us officials have urged pakistan to expand its offensive against militants to
north waziristan stronghold for al qaeda and the haqqani network known for
attacking us and nato troops in afghanistan
but the pakistan military said last week no new operations would be launched
until the current push into south waziristan was complete which would take
between six months to year
senior us military officer meanwhile said pakistan at the moment had to
focus on holding areas where militants had been pushed out and restoring
islamabad authority
he said pakistani officials were trying to point out how much they have
taken on in the past eight nine months since the swat operation started
the military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity told reporters
the key right now is to hold those areas that they have cleared to rebuild
damaged infrastructure reestablish basic services in northwest frontier
province in particular to get the writ of governance back in there the
officer said
on friday pakistani officials said attack helicopters pounded suspected
militant hideout in north waziristan
football nigeria zambia go to penalties after draw
lubango angola jan afp
nigeria and zambia drew after extra time on monday taking an africa cup of
nations quarter final to penalty shootout
kansas man killed abortion doctor without word court
wichita kansas jan afp
man accused of killing prominent abortion doctor wordlessly pumped single
gunshot into his victim head and threatened two other men before fleeing
kansas church witnesses said monday
scott roeder is on trial for first degree murder in the shooting death
of dr george tiller one of only handful of doctors who performed legal late
term abortions in the united states
gary hoepner said he was standing with tiller in the foyer of their wichita
church ahead of sunday services when roeder approached
looked up and this man had walked up to george put gun to his head and
shot him hoepner told jurors
hoepner said he followed roeder out of the church and into parking lot but
backed off when roeder threatened him he turned around over his shoulder and
said ve got gun ll shoot you hoepner said stopped
roeder also said something like lord forgive me as he fled hoepner said
another member of the congregation testified that he had also chased after
roeder and tried to stop him from driving away he said move or ll shoot
you and he pointed his gun at my face keith martin testified
both witnesses said they had seen roeder in the reformation lutheran church
before the may shooting of tiller whose foes had dubbed him tiller the baby
killer
the church has been the scene of numerous disruptions by abortion opponents over
the years because of tiller membership
roeder has admitted shooting tiller saying he did so to protect unborn
children
sedgwick county district judge warren wilbert has said he will not allow
roeder trial to be turned into forum on the issue of abortion deeply
divisive issue in the united states
but he has not yet ruled on whether roeder may introduce evidence suggesting he
is guilty of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter
under kansas law voluntary manslaughter can apply if defendant acts on an
unreasonable but honest belief that he is preventing harm to himself or
others
italy says afghan meet should look at somalia
washington jan afp
italy foreign minister called monday for an upcoming afghanistan conference in
london to also tackle the threat of extremism from somalia and other countries
during visit to washington foreign minister franco frattini highlighted
italy commitment to fund the daily operations of ministries in somalia
former italian colony that has lacked an effective government for nearly two
decades
but italy cannot do so alone frattini told joint news conference with us
secretary of state hillary clinton
will raise the point in london while talking about terrorism we have to
take into consideration there is unfortunately dissemination of terrorist
cells not in yemen only but in the horn and in the north of africa he added
this is problem that concerns us all
clinton and other foreign ministers will take part in the london talks wednesday
and thursday which are expected to look at ways to give afghans greater control
of security and provide incentives for fighters to leave the taliban
the conference will also discuss yemen growing topic of concern after
nigerian who allegedly trained in the arabian peninsula poorest nation was
charged with trying to blow up northwest airlines jet bound for detroit
the united states has also worried that somalia already major source of
piracy could become haven for extremists akin to the lawless border area
between afghanistan and pakistan
in shift president barack obama administration has shipped weapons to
somalia to help president sharif sheikh ahmed embattled government fend off an
offensive by the al qaeda inspired shebab movement
the state department announced monday that senior official will travel this
week to kenya uganda and ethiopia
maria otero the under secretary for democracy and global affairs will start
tuesday with visit to somali refugee camps in kenya dadaab region where she
will take up issues including human rights human trafficking and the
environment the state department said
in uganda she will meet officials and human rights activists it said
in addis ababa otero will lead the us delegation to the african union summit
other us officials to attend include johnnie carson the assistant secretary of
state for africa and scott gration the special envoy for sudan
carson will travel separately to benin ghana nigeria and togo along with
spain where he will meet counterparts from the european union the state
department said
israeli pm in poland for emotional auschwitz visit
warsaw jan afp
israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu arrived in poland monday for highly
emotional visit to the auschwitz death camp after warning that jews are again
facing calls for their extermination
ceremony on wednesday will mark international holocaust remembrance day and
the th anniversary of the liberation of the camp in nazi occupied poland where
some one million jews perished between june and january
netanyahu will be accompanied by delegation of israeli lawmakers and holocaust
survivors
the visit was set to be particularly emotionally charged for the hardline
premier whose wife father was the only member of his family to survive the
nazi holocaust in which some six million jews were murdered
this will be very emotional visit no jew can go to such venue without
having the weight of history and memory on his shoulders the premier
spokesman mark regev said
the son of prominent nationalist historian netanyahu views the jewish state
as the shield against recent years growing expressions of holocaust denial
and calls for the extermination of jews mainly by iranian president mahmoud
ahmadinejad
there is evil in the world if it is unstopped it expands and it is expanding
and it is threatening the same people the jewish people but we know it only
starts with the jewish people netanyahu said on monday
there is new call for the extermination of the jewish people he said at the
opening of an exhibition of the auschwitz death camp blueprints at the yad
vashem holocaust memorial in jerusalem
iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad has repeatedly said the jewish state was
doomed to be wiped off the map and has questioned the scale of the holocaust
israel considers iran to be an existential threat
on the eve of monday trip netanyahu also warned against new rise of anti
semitism in the wake of israel devastating war in the gaza strip last year
when some palestinians and israelis were killed
the fight against anti semitism is more important than ever because there has
been significant rise in the number of expressions of anti semitism since
operation cast lead he said on sunday
this anti semitism is mixed with new attempt to deny the jewish state the
right of self defence
israel on sunday released report saying that was record year for acts
of anti semitism across the world in decades
on tuesday netanyahu will also visit the former warsaw ghetto and hold talks in
the polish capital with president lech kaczynski prime minister donald tusk and
other officials
the auschwitz birkenau nazi concentration camp outside the city of krakow was
liberated on january by soviet troops the day was designated
international holocaust memorial day by the united nations in
us plays down japan vote impact
washington jan afp
the united states on monday played down the impact of local election in japan
on row over us base saying that central government was in charge of the
issue
asked if sunday election in the okinawan town of nago changed the dynamic for
the united states state department spokesman crowley said it really
doesn
he pointed out that japanese prime minister yukio hatoyama while saying the
election showed the will of the people stood by his schedule of making
decision on the base issue by may
the prime minister of japan said that the central government will be the one
that makes the decision crowley told reporters
that is matter for the people of japan working with their government and they
have review under way he said
hatoyama is reviewing plan signed off by japan long ruling
conservatives to move futenma air base long source of grievance as it lies
near crowded urban area to reclaimed land off the quiet town of nago
but voters in nago elected an ally of hatoyama left leaning democratic party
of japan who opposes the plan to bring the air base to nago where many
residents fear noise and threat to rare dugongs large marine mammals
the futenma move within okinawa is part of plan to shift thousands of us
troops from okinawa to the us territory of guam but some of hatoyama allies
want the base to be removed from japan entirely
the united states has urged hatoyama to stick to the plan saying that futenma
capabilities were needed to defend japan which has been officially pacifist
since world war ii
apple net profit up sharply on strong iphone sales
san francisco jan afp
strong iphone sales helped apple post percent increase in quarterly net
profit on monday of billion dollars
apple said revenue in the first quarter rose to billion dollars from
billion dollars in the corresponding quarter year ago
apple said it sold million macintosh computers during the quarter
percent more than year ago and million iphones up percent from
year ago
apple said ipod sales declined eight percent to million units
apple chief executive steve jobs said new products being released by the company
this year were very strong starting this week with major new product that
we re really excited about
apple is hosting an event here on wednesday to unveil what is widely expected to
be new tablet computer
haitian president asks world to send tents
port au prince jan afp
haiti president rene preval urged the world monday to urgently airlift
tents to house families left homeless by an earthquake before expected rainfall
blights relief plans
the urgency gets worse as the rainy season approaches he said in statement
released in port au prince haiti wet season usually starts in may but storms
could come earlier
in the meantime we would especially ask our bilateral partners to make all
their stocks particularly from the military available he said calling
for solid family size shelters built to un agency standards
the un has warned that if heavy rains come while up to million haitians are
still homeless it could provoke public health catastrophe spreading disease
through dense insanitary makeshift encampments
in addition to requesting the tents preval urged world governments to send
million ready to eat ration packs or the equivalent in rice beans and oil in
order to feed million people for two weeks
scientists back un climate panel but call for changes
paris jan afp
leading scientists from the besieged un climate panel are defending its
integrity even as they called for changes in the way data is collected and
handled
the intergovernmental panel on climate change ipcc has come under intense fire
in recent weeks over errors uncovered in its report the scientific
touchstone for faltering global climate talks
prediction that global warming would melt away the himalayan glaciers that
provide water to billion people in asia by has been dismissed by
glaciologists as preposterous and will be withdrawn
this weekend the sunday times of london reported that passage suggesting that
natural disasters including hurricanes and floods had increased in number and
intensity has also been challenged the newspaper quoted an ipcc official saying
the claim is under review
both assertions which would appear to exaggerate the impacts of climate change
are especially damaging because they are based on sources that do not meet the
ipcc own standards of reliability
the review process must be made stricter herve le treut top climate
modeler and director of france pierre simon laplace institute said monday
the ipcc is responsible for the quality of the content it has to exercise that
responsibility to be sure that every part of the document has undergone careful
scrutiny he told afp
le treut nonetheless defended the core methods and findings of the three volume
page report saying that minor errors were inevitable and had been taken
out of context sometimes by people bent on discrediting the panel
they look at one sentence in one chapter in huge book and don even try to
put it into perspective he said
embattled ipcc chairman rajendra pachauri also insisted there is nothing wrong
with procedure as such blaming the errors uncovered on poor communication
among the reports hundreds of authors and failure to respect the rules
at the same time he seemed to acknowledge that the controversy had damaged the
climate panel credibility and undermined troubled un climate talks derailed
by the near collapse of the copenhagen climate summit
all of this is very bad timing it is very unfortunate he told afp saturday
even before the controversy over natural disasters had surfaced
climate skeptics have seized upon the errors as evidence that the ipcc is biased
or unreliable in the united states the revelations have made an already uphill
battle to pass climate and energy legislation all the more difficult
at this point in time things don look very good at all they look very bleak
being very completely candid pachauri said about the status of climate
talks
several scientists complained of poor cooperation between physical scientists
responsible for volume one and social scientists who worked on volume two where
all the errors have been found
was coordinating editor in working group and never had any interaction
with group reports this was detrimental said le treut
georg kaser glaciologist at the university of innsbruck in austria said none
of the glacier experts who contributed to the report had bothered to review what
had been said on the subject in the second volume
blame my colleagues very much for this he said by phone
pachauri agreed that the three working groups totalling some scientists
had become bit compartmentalised but said that the problem would be
rectified in the next ipcc report due in
there will be more communication across disciplines in future agreed eric
rignot research scientist at nasa jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena
california and an expert on glaciers and lead author of the ipcc report
football nigeria zambia drawing at half time of extra time
lubango angola jan afp
nigeria and zambia were drawing at half time of extra time on monday in an
africa cup of nations quarter final
football scottish cup draw
glasgow jan afp
revised draw for the fifth round of the scottish cup after monday fourth round
result
th rd
stenhousemuir or dunfermline celtic
st johnstone dundee united
hibernian montrose
dundee ayr united
raith rovers or airdrie united aberdeen
kilmarnock inverness ct
st mirren rangers
ross county stirling
ties to be played on the weekend of february
football english football league tables
london jan afp
english football league tables after monday league one match played won
drawn lost goals for goals against points
championship
newcastle
