whitacre was installed as chairman when the auto giant emerged from bankruptcy
last year with us government support
former chairman and ceo of telecom giant at amp whitacre was first
installed to the posts in new company board controlled in large part by the us
government under gm bankruptcy plan
whitacre was described in recent wall street journal report as hard charging
texan with penchant for killing rattlesnakes for sport
he is known for taking over companies and imposing his will on its employees
starting at the top the report said
henderson took the helm at gm in late march last year as the auto giant was
headed toward bankruptcy and living off massive aid from the us government
he replaced rick wagoner who was forced out of the job by the administration of
president barack obama
gm has been undergoing massive restructuring since the government gave it the
kiss of life
in the latest move gm europe announced last week it was to close an entire car
production plant in belgium making workers redundant and ramping up an
already tense climate of industrial unrest
it is the second major factory closure announced by carmakers in europe this
month after italy fiat acted to shut plant in sicily
europe wide restructuring at gm opel unit is expected to shed jobs from
total of almost half of which are located in germany
armenia azerbaijan leaders discuss karabakh conflict
moscow jan afp
armenia and azerbaijan presidents met monday for russian mediated talks and
agreed to offer concrete ideas on ending their conflict over the nagorny
karabakh region russian state media reported
armenian president serzh sarkisian azerbaijani president ilham aliyev and
russian president dmitry medvedev met in the southern russian city of sochi the
kremlin said in statement
russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said the two visiting presidents had
agreed to offer proposals for amending draft peace plan from the minsk group
group of countries seeking negotiated end to the conflict
the main result was that though there are some parts of the document which the
two sides disagree on the sides will offer their concrete ideas concrete
formulations for these parts lavrov said quoted by state news agencies
russia has stepped up its efforts to negotiate an end to the long simmering
conflict over nagorny karabakh mediating five armenian azerbaijani summits
since but the push has so far failed to yield breakthrough
backed by yerevan ethnic armenian forces seized control of nagorny karabakh and
seven surrounding districts from azerbaijan in the early in war that
claimed an estimated lives
the two former soviet republics have cut direct economic and transport links and
failed to negotiate settlement on the region status
armenian and azerbaijani forces are spread across ceasefire line in and around
nagorny karabakh often facing each other at close range and shootings are
common
the minsk group created in is co chaired by russia the united states and
france in november it presented both sides with peace plan on resolving
the conflict
european stocks fall london down percent
london jan afp
european stocks fell on monday after new data showed larger than expected drop
in us home sales in december as investors remained jittery over plan to
overhaul the us banking sector
london benchmark ftse index slipped percent to close at
points the cac in paris fell percent to points and the
frankfurt dax was down percent at points
three guantanamo prisoners arrive in slovakia police
bratislava jan afp
three prisoners freed from the us war on terror jail at guantanamo bay arrived
in slovakia on monday police told afp as washington aims to empty and close
the controversial facility
three prisoners from guantanamo were escorted to slovakia in the early hours on
monday police spokesman martin korch told afp
the police won be commenting on any other details concerning these people
he said
the us department of justice said the identities of the three were being
withheld at slovakia request for security and privacy reasons
the united states is grateful to the government of slovakia for its willingness
to support us efforts to close the guantanamo bay detention facility it said
in statement confirming the transfer
us president barack obama wants to close the jail set up by his predecessor
george bush in the wake of the september attacks although his self
imposed january deadline passed unmet last week
the obama administration has asked third countries to help by taking in
detainees who cannot be sent back to their homelands often because of fears
they could be persecuted there
slovak foreign minister miroslav lajcak announced last week that the country
would accept three prisoners who were individually chosen and have never had
charges pressed against them or been sentenced
slovakia has been asked for help by the us government and we agreed as
gesture of alliance and solidarity lajcak said the security of slovak
citizens won be endangered
the leading slovak daily sme reported that the three former prisoners would live
in an immigration centre where they would be taught slovak
they would be free to leave the centre during the day but required to return
their each night it said
once they were used to slovakia they would be able to move out of the centre
and may be joined by their families although they would be monitored by the
slovak security service sme added
slovak officials refused to comment on the report
ex communist slovakia which joined nato in is staunch us ally
nato chief eyes afghan security transition deal
brussels jan afp
nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen called monday for an agreement at
major conference on afghanistan this week to begin handing security over from
international troops to local forces
the conference cannot be just talk show it has to deliver results and hope
to see agreement in london on way forward for transition to afghan lead in
security he told reporters at nato headquarters in brussels
as to when it will end think it too early to say but as to when it should
begin my answer is simple this year he said after talks with british
foreign secretary david miliband who will host thursday conference
the bottom line is this is very important year for this mission the
afghan people and publics of all our countries need to see results he added
mired in an increasingly costly fight against taliban and al qaeda linked
insurgents the nato led international security assistance force isaf wants to
expand the afghan security force to some personnel by late
nato officials refuse to speak of an exit strategy but building the afghan
force to point where it can stand alone is the only way that international
troops can safely drawn down numbers
under new targets the afghan army will grow to troops in october
and by october while the police numbers would expand from some
now to in october and the following october
ahead of the london meeting miliband warned that the stakes are high
we are at decisive moment in the afghan campaign he said
at the conference he said we will work together on set of concrete
outcomes but we will also fashion sense of common purpose clear plan with
clear consensus about how to put it into practice
ethiopian plane crashes off lebanon no survivors
beirut jan afp
rescuers found bodies but no survivors during massive search operation
launched monday after an ethiopian airliner carrying people plunged flaming
into the sea off lebanon during fierce storm
defence minister elias murr blamed the bad weather for the early morning
disaster which occurred minutes after takeoff and grim faced officials played
down hopes of anyone being found alive
we do hope but it unlikely health minister mohamed jawad khalifeh said
after planes and ships from scrambled international task force scoured the
site of the crash recovering only bodies and debris
by late afternoon at least bodies had been pulled from the sea including
that of child
one rescue official told afp that some of the victims recovered had been
dismembered
the bodies found were apparently of passengers who did not have their seat
belts on and who floated to the surface he said speaking on condition of
anonymity divers are working to recover the bodies of those who had their seat
belts and sank to the bottom of the sea
the health ministry said it had set up crisis unit in bid to identify the
victims through dna tests or items of jewellery and personal belongings found on
their persons
debris from the boeing which was headed to the ethiopian capital addis
ababa as well as luggage could be seen washing up on the shoreline south of the
capital
defence ministry official said the plane exploded into four pieces before
crashing shortly after takeoff at am gmt in heavy thunderstorm
murr said it appeared the storm was to blame
bad weather was apparently the cause of the crash he told reporters we have
ruled out foul play so far he added echoing comments earlier by president
michel sleiman
witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the sea
one employee of gas station near the site of the crash said he heard an
explosion and saw huge ball of fire as the plane crashed
transport minister ghazi aridi said ethiopian airlines flight lost contact
with the airport control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed into the
mediterranean sea nautical miles off the coastal town of naameh south of
the airport
the control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on takeoff and suddenly
lost contact for no known reason aridi told reporters
the lebanese army navy as well as the united nations interim force in lebanon
unifil and aircraft from france britain cyprus and the united states were
assisting in the rescue officials said
families of the passengers some of them weeping uncontrollably huddled at the
vip lounge of beirut international airport and at state hospital to await news
of their loved ones
prime minister saad hariri parliament speaker nabih berri as well as number
of ministers and deputies rushed to the airport to comfort the families sleiman
and number of ministers also visited the families at the hospital to offer
their condolences
one woman sobbed and screamed why why as others fainted and had to be
carried away by red cross volunteers
know they won find him wailed one woman referring to her husband who was
on board the flight
we are working with all the power we have to try and find missing people from
this tragedy hariri told reporters we are working to find the black box that
will tell us what really happened on the plane
us naval destroyer the uss ramage which specialises in rescue operations
arrived at the site of the crash by pm gmt with advanced equipment
and divers on board us embassy spokesman said
this should help speed up the search efforts during the night murr said
hope that overnight we will have recovered all the passengers whether
dead or alive
an afp correspondent saw eight empty airplane seats children toys in gift
wrapping and coffee machine from the plane that had washed up on the shore
just south of the airport soldiers could also be seen on beach dragging large
metal chunks of the aircraft
the ethiopian news agency in addis ababa said ethiopian airlines has sent team
to beirut to investigate the crash
officials listed passengers and seven crew members on board the flight
the passengers comprise lebanese ethiopians one french woman one
british national one iraqi one syrian one turkish one unknown and seven crew
members three of the lebanese held due nationality one from britain one
from canada and one from russia
the french passenger was identified as marla sanchez pietton the wife of
france ambassador to lebanon denis pietton the french embassy told afp
thousands of ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in lebanon and
ethiopian airlines operates regular flight between addis ababa and beirut
the boeing which entered into commercial service in is one of the
latest versions of the world most widely used short to medium haul airliners
and is capable of carrying up to passengers
ethiopian airlines which was established in and operates an all boeing
fleet is considered one of africa best carriers
but in november ethiopian airlines flight was hijacked between addis
ababa and nairobi by three ethiopians seeking political asylum the aircraft
crashed into the indian ocean off the comoros when it ran out of fuel killing
of the people on board
philips tops forecasts warns of uncertain times ahead
the hague jan afp
dutch electronics giant philips reported better than expected fourth quarter
net profit on monday but warned it would focus on cost containment and
innovation as uncertain times lie ahead
the net profit of million euros million dollars was big turnaround
from loss of billion euros year earlier and better than the million
euros forecast by analysts in dow jones newswires survey
philips attributed the recovery to cost cutting and improved earnings but warned
that visibility beyond the short term remains low and so we will continue our
focus on cost and on cash
the board said in statement at the same time we will ensure that our
businesses are well placed to capture growth when it comes not least by
maintaining investments in innovation marketing and emerging markets
philips reported fold increase in earnings before interest tax and
amortisation ebita of million euros
this was driven by higher earnings notably in emerging markets across all
sectors healthcare consumer lifestyle and lighting as well as
million euro decline in restructuring and acquisition related charges to
million euros
thanks to the increased resilience of our company we ended the year with
strong fourth quarter chief executive officer and president gerard kleisterlee
said in statement adding he was confident of further progress in
naturally the magnitude of the improvement over the full year is dependent
in part at least on developments in the global economy
the company would propose dividend of euro cents per share kleisterlee
said up to total amount of million euros as sign of our confidence in
our future
hard hit by the global economic crisis philips announced last january that it
would cut jobs worldwide on top of announced in the fourth quarter
of in bid to reduce spending by million euros by
by the fourth quarter of the company said it had managed to reduce its
headcount by to
philips said total sales for the three months to december came in at
billion euros drop of five percent from year earlier largely due to foreign
exchange factors
in spite of higher earnings fourth quarter cash inflow was million euros
lower than months earlier partly due to million euro asbestos related
settlement
cash flow is measure of the speed at which company accumulates cash before
and beyond making payments of all kinds surplus provides room for manoeuvre
in managing current finances and may assist investment
net profit for the year totalled million euros against net loss of
million euros in with sales percent lower at billion euros
restructuring costs for would be in the range of million euros
philips said adding it expected the upward trend in emerging markets to
continue
rights group slams china firm over dr congo workers
kinshasa jan afp
chinese construction group is inflicting unacceptable working conditions on
its congolese labourers in the democratic republic of congo leading african
human rights group charged monday
it said workers were employed without contracts hours were not respected
salaries were paid at less than the official rate people were unfairly fired
and there was no security and little medical care
the construction group china railway engineering corporation crec was
slammed by the african association for the defence of human rights asadho
no one from crec was available to comment monday but china ambassador to the
dr congo wu zexian questioned the credibility of asadho report
why only chinese companies when companies from other countries are doing the
same thing he told afp widening the field of inquiry would have given this
report more credibility
in the congolese government signed multi billion dollar agreement with
beijing for the renovation or construction of more than kilometres
miles of roads and kilometres of railway as well as two dams hospitals
accommodation and schools across the country
mineral rich but ravaged by years of war the dr congo has been increasingly
reliant on cash from china to shore up the government and fund reconstruction
but asadho citing an investigation in mid november at various sites where crec
was constructing roads said it was complicit in the impoverishment of local
workers
in november it added the dollar was worth congolese francs but crec was
paying only francs to the dollar
the report also cited the sacking of two employees for not carrying out an
insruction given in mandarin
the rights group further criticised the powerlessness and fear of labour
inspectors who it alleged were refusing to act against crec managers
those managers it went on enjoyed favoured status effectively exonerating them
from their legal obligations to congolese workers
italy seeks arab role on iran nuclear row
washington jan afp
italy foreign minister called monday for greater role for arab nations in
curbing iran disputed nuclear program saying it was an issue for more than
just western democracies
on visit to washington foreign minister franco frattini said that he agreed
with secretary of state hillary clinton to step up consultations with arab
nations on iran nuclear ambitions
we together have to prevent iran from going nuclear this is concern for all
of us for western demcoracies the united states and europe but for arab
states as well frattini told joint news conference
we are in perfect agreement in broadening the consultation of number of
states in the region that can be interested and are interested in talking about
what to do he said
iran has historically had tense relations with many arab nations iran and iraq
fought brutal border war from to
since its islamic revolution iran has been an arch enemy of israel which
has been especially concerned at the prospect of iran developing nuclear
weapons
clinton said that she and her italian counterpart agreed that iran must fully
address international concerns about its nuclear program and end the repression
and abuse of its citizens
iran faces clear choice between continued isolation and living up to its
international obligations she said
president barack obama administration has offered dialogue with iran to end
three decades of mistrust but has voiced growing frustration as the islamic
republic balks at un backed offer to ease concerns about its nuclear program
while treading carefully the administration has in recent weeks stepped up its
criticism of president mahmoud ahmadinejad human rights record including its
use of force to disperse opposition protesters
iran says its controversial nuclear drive is aimed at peaceful use of energy but
western powers are skeptical believing it is trying to build nuclear bomb
football benitez says jones row not his fault
liverpool england jan afp
liverpool manager rafael benitez denied monday suggestions made by sunderland
counterpart that the anfield club had been disrespectful in their pursuit of
black cats striker kenwyne jones
and the reds spanish boss insisted he played no part in any talks
bruce said last week liverpool had tried to unsettle the trinidad and tobago
international whom benitez is believed to want to sign on loan as cover for the
injured fernando torres
but benitez said monday was not dealing with this
managing director christian purslow has been talking with sunderland
chairman niall quinn so they have to manage the situation because was not
doing anything
prefer not to talk too much because we will create debate so christian and
niall will continue to talk if they need to talk
they were in contact but don know what the situation is now
on friday bruce said find it hugely disrespectful the antics of liverpool
and this constant badgering of kenwyne jones when we as club haven heard
anything
don know whether they are serious or whether rafa is playing games with his
board it might be power games at liverpool
meanwhile benitez downplayed reports linking liverpool with move for standard
liege striker milan jovanovic
when they talk about us the radar is very big with players all around the
world benitez said
they are names but we don talk about players all can tell you is he
jovanovic is good player
benitez did say however that goalkeeper jose reina one of liverpool leading
players in so far disappointing season for the merseysiders is to be offered
new contract possibly for as long as five years
we have had conversation with his agent and we know his idea he knows our
idea and conversations will continue benitez said
think it will be easy to finalise and have an agreement
liverpool travel to wolves on tuesday in bid to extend four match unbeaten
run
they know that victory at molineux combined with results elsewhere would get
liverpool back into the top four place benitez guaranteed they would occupy at
the end of the season
liverpool could have captain steven gerrard back from hamstring injury ahead
of schedule against wolves having coped better than many expected in the
england midfielder absence
it will be typical physical premier league game but in terms of our
commitment and the mentality it has to be the same benitez said of facing
relegation threatened wolves
when you see the players working so hard it is clear they are taking
responsibility
gerrard has had injury problems during the season but it is good for us the
captain is coming back
it is always important for us because he can change games if he can see the
team is working so hard he will be key player not just because of his quality
but his mentality on the pitch
the mood is very positive and everyone wants to be involved you can see we
have more confidence but in football you have to win the next game
am pleased to see the team in this position
un rights council to hold special session on haiti
geneva jan afp
the member united nations human rights council said monday that it would hold
special session this week to examine how it could support the recovery process
in quake hit haiti
the human rights council will hold special session on the support of the
human rights council to the recovery process in haiti after the earthquake of
january human rights approach on wednesday january it said in
statement
organised at the request of brazil the session was backed by other member
states of the council
the special session would be the th of such extraordinary sittings held by the
council
it has previously held special meetings on conflicts or human rights violations
in the palestinian territories lebanon myanmar sudan darfur and the
democratic republic of congo
mayhem as lebanon plane crash victims brought to hospital
beirut jan afp
relatives of passengers on an ethiopian jet which crashed off lebanon monday
thronged beirut hospital many in tears or overtaken by anger as specialists
began identifying the bodies
her son let me in said ali wazni in his as he pleaded with
security officials to allow him into room at rafiq hariri state hospital south
of beirut where passengers were arriving in bodybags
ethiopian airlines flight crashed into the sea off the southern town of
naameh shortly after takeoff at am gmt monday carrying people
wazni told afp that his mother haifa his newlywed sister rawan and her husband
were on board the plane headed to mozambique with stopover in addis ababa
drove them to the airport early this morning and when got home heard that
the plane had crashed and rushed back with my father he said fighting back
tears
we walked the beach near the airport hoping to find anything he added if
could dive would have gone in myself
the government has set up crisis cell at the state hospital where forensic
experts are working to identify the bodies at the hospital but the health
minister said the possibility of finding survivors was slim
we do hope to find survivors but it unlikely said health minister
mohammed jawad khalifeh in response to question at news conference
khalifeh visibly upset over the chaos at the rafiq hariri state hospital said
he sympathised with the families distress and assured them they would be
contacted if any news broke
the ministry had also dispatched psychiatric teams to help families cope with
the news at the hospital and airport he said
one of the passengers on board the only identifiably body was close personal
friend of mine hassan tajuddine well known local businessman khalifeh
said
the other body identified was that of three year old mohammed hassan kreik he
added
dna tests to identify the lebanese passengers aboard the flight were underway
and out of necessary tests had been completed khalifeh said noting
that some of the bodies had been burnt
outside the press room an ethiopian woman desperately sought information on her
cousin
no one is giving us information she said weeping hospital official
ushered her into back room when she collapsed in tears banging on the floor
lebanese president michel sleiman accompanied by interior minister ziad baroud
and khalifeh toured the hospital and met with family members to offer their
condolences
this is national tragedy sleiman told reporters
earlier in the day relatives rushed to beirut airport after news of the crash
broke
as grim faced officials played down expectations that any of the passengers
and seven crew may have survived the crash relatives huddled in the vip lounge
some weeping softly some wailing unconsolably some making frantic phone calls
one woman was sobbing and screaming why why as other anguished relatives
fainted and had to be carried out of the airport lounge by red cross volunteers
another woman said she had lost all hope of finding her husband who was one of
those on board
he my life they won find him know it they won find him she wailed
as her mother hugged her
one woman wearing black headscarf cried out to her missing father you re
good man you don deserve this why did you do this to us god
young boy named ali comforted his mother who tearfully asked him repeatedly
if he had any news of his father who was also on board not yet he replied
another year old gently helped his mother sip glass of water in corner
where she had nearly collapsed in tears
one couple gave up after few hours of trying to get any information on
family member
the officials here aren telling us anything at least if we go home the
television will tell us something they said as they left the lounge
women some grasping binoculars were nervously pacing along beach south of
the airport near the crash site looking out into the murky waters
trial begins for canadian soldier in killing of unarmed taliban
ottawa jan afp
the court martial of canadian officer for the alleged murder of an
unarmed and severely wounded afghan insurgent started monday in the first
canadian prosecution of battlefield prisoner killing
captain robert semrau faces charges of second degree murder for shooting
with intent to kill an unarmed male person in afghanistan as well as behaving
disgracefully and neglecting his military duty
he is being tried over the coming week by military judge and panel in the
october death
military documents outlining facts of the case agreed to by the prosecution and
defense said semrau troops were on patrol when they were ambushed by taliban
fighters in helmand province
during that period canadian soldiers were facing an increasingly tough
insurgency as they defended key positions in region semrau was mentoring afghan
soldiers as part of nato program
following several clashes british and afghan troops along with their canadian
mentors came across two presumed taliban fighters one dead the other too
severely wounded for treatment on site
semrau was left alone with the injured man and two shots were heard an unnamed
witness is expected to testify he saw semrau shoot the man
semrau was charged three months later after canada military chiefs in
kandahar were made aware of the incident and ordered an investigation
neither canadian nor international law recognizes mercy killings
semrau joined the canadian forces in after serving several years with the
british armed forces his military career was unblemished before murder charges
were laid in this landmark case
there were reportedly several cases of canadian soldiers killing prisoners on
the battlefield in korea and after day in retaliation for the murder of
canadians by the german ss but charges were never laid
no proof of spanish ex agent treason lawyer
madrid jan afp
the lawyer for former spanish intelligence agent on trial for treason in
madrid said monday there was no proof his client had sold information to the
russian secret service
public prosecutors are seeking year jail sentence for roberto flores
garcia who was arrested in july in spain canary islands and whose in
camera trial opened in madrid on monday
no proof has been brought showing that flores had proposed or supplied
information to the russian secret services or to other secret services his
lawyer manuel olle told reporters at the end of the day proceedings
the head of spain cni intelligence service alberto saiz has alleged garcia
passed information to the russians on the identities of dozens of spanish
intelligence agents for lot of money from december until he left the
service in february
saiz charged following garcia arrest that the former agent also passed on
