the frankfurter allgemeine daily also said that an increase of this magnitude
was being mooted as well as further reserve of the same size neither report
said where it got the information
the german government has said previously that it would make no decision on more
troops until after thursday conference in london
germany currently has around troops in afghanistan the third biggest
contingent behind the united states and britain and is under pressure from
washington to send more to back its surge of more us soldiers
on his way to london afghan president hamid karzai was due to hold talks with
merkel in berlin on tuesday and wednesday
merkel was also due to hammer out common german line for the conference with
talks on monday evening with foreign minister guido westerwelle who is going to
london and with defence minister karl theodor zu guttenberg
berlin participation in the strong international force fighting the
taliban insurgency is unpopular among majority of german voters opinion polls
show
nfl nfl scales back london game plans
london jan afp
the national football league has abandoned plans to hold second regular season
game in london in
already confirmed is game between the denver broncos and the san francisco
ers at wembley on october and nfl uk officials had been planning to stage
second game later in the season
but the current economic climate and the league need to prioritise new
collective bargaining agreement with the players union have seen the plan
dropped
playing one game in the uk is significant investment an nfl statement said
playing second game is an even bigger investment as we considered this the
uncertainty related to the ongoing cba discussions linked to the current global
economic climate were critical factors in our decision not to play second game
in the uk
our ambition to bring second game to the uk is as strong as ever once the
current uncertainty is resolved we will be in strong position to bring
multiple games to our uk fanbase
hong kong shares fall percent
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares dropped percent monday following sharp falls on wall
street due to uncertainty over us president barack obama bank revamp
proposals
concerns that fund raising plans in china banking sector could dilute share
value also weighed on sentiment dealers said
the benchmark hang seng index gave up points to finish at
turnover was billion hong kong dollars billion us
won be surprised if the benchmark slid further because confidence is so
brittle due to concerns about further tightening measures in china francis
lun general manager at fulbright securities told dow jones newswires
wall street tumbled percent friday its third straight day in the red and
its biggest one day drop since october
chinese banks were lower as investors mulled how institutions will respond to
beijing regulatory requirements for capital after lending spree last year
in hong kong heavyweight hsbc fell percent to hong kong dollars
tracking weakness in us banks
bank of china dropped percent to after it said at the weekend it is
planning to sell new shares amounting to up to percent of its existing
shares which could raise almost billion us dollars
dealers fear other mainland banks will also launch fund raising plans to shore
up their balance sheets
bank of communications slid percent to and industrial and commercial
bank of china lost percent to
in shanghai shares closed down percent with banks leading the losses
the shanghai composite index which covers both and shares was down
points at on turnover of billion yuan billion dollars
bank of china fell percent to yuan and china construction bank shed
percent to yuan
banks may continue to fall as investors are unsure how successful the capital
raising exercises would be simon wang an analyst at guoyuan securities said
steel makers were also among the day biggest decliners due to weak trading and
overcapacity concerns
baoshan iron dropped percent to yuan and wuhan iron amp steel fell
percent to yuan
tennis australian open results day eight rd update
melbourne jan afp
results from day eight of the australian open at melbourne park here monday
denotes seeding
men singles
th round
novak djokovic srb bt lukasz kubot pol
nikolay davydenko rus bt fernando verdasco esp
jo wilfried tsonga fra bt nicolas almagro esp
women singles
th round
venus williams usa bt francesca schiavone ita
li na chn bt caroline wozniacki den
serena williams usa bt samantha stosur aus
japan pledges million dollars in aid troops for haiti
tokyo jan afp
japan said monday it would pledge million dollars in aid to quake hit haiti
and deploy as many as peacekeepers to the un mission in the caribbean
nation
our government will announce package of financial assistance to haiti which
will total million dollars during donors meeting in canada foreign
ministry official said
the aid includes million dollars in emergency assistance and million
dollars for long term reconstruction in the nation devastated by magnitude
quake the official said
international donors prepared to meet monday in montreal to discuss rebuilding
haiti after the january quake the worst recorded disaster to hit the
americas with the death toll expected to top
tokyo will also send unit of its self defense forces sdf to join the united
nations peacekeeping mission in haiti the defence ministry said
the top government spokesman cabinet secretary hirofumi hirano said japan may
send about military personnel and planned to deploy them as soon as
possible kyodo news reported
foreign minister katsuya okada defence minister toshimi kitazawa and chief
cabinet secretary hirofumi hirano had informally agreed sunday to send an sdf
unit to join the un stabilisation mission in haiti kyodo said
japan military is barred from fighting overseas under the country war
renouncing constitution but it has joined non combat operations including in
iraq and as part of anti piracy patrols off somalia
at the montreal conference the united states canada france brazil and other
donors will attempt to craft long term strategies to lift crippled haiti the
poorest nation in the western hemisphere on to path to recovery
japan had initially pledged five million dollars in the days after the quake an
amount much smaller than the us aid pledge of million dollars and less than
the million dollars vowed by south korea
the kyodo report said that after the initial aid pledge the united nations
strongly urged japan to add more aid as the world second largest economy and
as the second biggest donor to the un
ethiopian airlines sends team to probe lebanon crash
addis ababa jan afp
ethiopian airlines has sent team to beirut to investigate monday crash of
one of its airliners carrying people shortly after takeoff the airline said
ethiopian regrets to confirm the unfortunate accident of et which took
place shortly after departure from beirut international airport today january
the airline said in statement posted on its website
an investigative team has already arrived at the scene it said adding that
it included officials from the airline safety medical engineering units
as well as representatives of ethiopian civil aviation
an emergency command center has been formed at the ethiopian headquarters the
company said adding that an emergency hotline had been set up for the families
the crash came just two days after us air manufacturing giant boeing announced
that ethiopian airlines whose maiden flight took place in had ordered
new aircraft worth million dollars
with fleet of aircraft and more on command as well as network of
international destinations ethiopian airlines is one of africa top carriers
and swept most continental industry awards over the past two years
japan pledges million dollars in aid troops for haiti
tokyo jan afp
japan said monday it would pledge million dollars in aid to quake hit haiti
and deploy as many as peacekeepers to the un mission in the caribbean
nation
our government will announce package of financial assistance to haiti which
will total million dollars during donors meeting in canada foreign
ministry official said
the aid includes million dollars in emergency assistance and million
dollars for long term reconstruction in the nation devastated by magnitude
quake the official said
international donors prepared to meet monday in montreal to discuss rebuilding
haiti after the january quake the worst recorded disaster to hit the
americas with the death toll expected to top
tokyo will also send unit of its self defense forces sdf to join the united
nations peacekeeping mission in haiti the defence ministry said
the top government spokesman cabinet secretary hirofumi hirano said japan may
send about military personnel and planned to deploy them as soon as
possible kyodo news reported
foreign minister katsuya okada defence minister toshimi kitazawa and chief
cabinet secretary hirofumi hirano had informally agreed sunday to send an sdf
unit to join the un stabilisation mission in haiti kyodo said
japan military is barred from fighting overseas under the country war
renouncing constitution but it has joined non combat operations including in
iraq and as part of anti piracy patrols off somalia
at the montreal conference the united states canada france brazil and other
donors will attempt to craft long term strategies to lift crippled haiti the
poorest nation in the western hemisphere on to path to recovery
japan had initially pledged five million dollars in the days after the quake an
amount much smaller than the us aid pledge of million dollars and less than
the million dollars vowed by south korea
the kyodo report said that after the initial aid pledge the united nations
strongly urged japan to add more aid as the world second largest economy and
as the second biggest donor to the un
urgent germany issues arrest warrant for ex argentine dictator
berlin jan afp
german justice authorities said monday they have ordered an international arrest
warrant for ex argentine military dictator jorge rafael videla over the killing
of german citizen while he was in power
japan pm says anti us base vote will of the people
tokyo jan afp
japan centre left prime minister yukio hatoyama said monday that local
election victory by an opponent of planned us military base on okinawa island
reflects the will of the people
the outcome of the mayoral vote sunday makes it less likely that controversial
new marine corps air base will be built in coastal area of the southern island
on which tens of thousands of us troops are already stationed
the base issue has soured ties between washington and tokyo since hatoyama
government swept to power in august promising less subservient stance towards
the united states and announcing review of the plan
both countries agreed in to move the air operations of the locally
unpopular futenma base from crowded urban area to quieter location in the
coastal city of nago by
hatoyama whose coalition includes strongly pacifist party has said he will
decide by may whether to stick with the pact or move the base to another site
either on or off the island
the united states has insisted that japan honour the deal which is part of
wider plan to realign its strong troop presence in country where
american forces have been based since the end of world war ii
in sunday vote in nago the anti base candidate susumu inamine who was backed
by hatoyama ruling party beat the pro base incumbent yoshikazu shimabukuro by
to votes
hatoyama on monday told reporters that the election result shows the will of
the people of nago city although he reiterated that the central government
final decision would not come before may
election winner inamine said that once he takes up his post next month he
will push for city assembly resolution opposing the hosting of the new base
and later seek to hand over the resolution in person to hatoyama
top government spokesman hirofumi hirano congratulated inamine on his poll win
but stressed that the local election would not prevent the possibility of tokyo
sticking with the original relocation plan
japan media saw the local vote as litmus test in the base row
the liberal asahi daily said that the prime minister now needs to work his
hardest to find new candidate site outside okinawa
the conservative sankei daily criticised hatoyama for leaving the backbone of
japan us national security up to the outcome of mere mayoral election
under the pact struck when the conservative liberal democratic party were
in power in tokyo and the republicans in washington the futenma base would be
closed and its air operations moved to new facility at the camp schwab site at
henoko in nago
about marines would also be shifted to the us territory of guam
the base row and hatoyama at times contradictory statements on it appear to
have hurt his government popularity
support for the hatoyama cabinet has slipped by points in two weeks to
percent while the disapproval rating rose points to percent according
to survey of voters by private broadcaster tbs
toshio kamo politics professor at ritsumeikan university said the election
result certainly spells tailwind for mr hatoyama pledge to remove us bases
off okinawa
on the other hand the united states is intensifying pressure on japan to
accept the existing deal and some in japan are getting concerned about strained
ties with washington he told afp
so mr hatoyama is being sandwiched by pressure from residents and washington
but if the premier truly takes initiative to resolve the issue and calls on
president obama again for new solution he could make difference
ethiopian plane crashes off lebanon no sign of survivors
beirut jan afp
an ethiopian airliner carrying people plunged into the sea off lebanon after
exploding in ball of flames just after takeoff in stormy weather early monday
officials and witnesses said
helicopters and navy vessels rushed to the crash site as president michel
sleiman ruled out foul play and grim faced officials played down hopes of any
survivors
defence ministry official said the boeing exploded into four pieces before
crashing shortly after takeoff at am gmt investigators were trying
to determine whether lightning had hit the jet
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
another witness said it was like the whole sea lit up
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
families of the passengers some of them weeping uncontrollably huddled at the
vip lounge of beirut international airport to await news of their loved ones
prime minister saad hariri parliament speaker nabih berri as well as number
of ministers and deputies were at the airport to comfort the families
one woman was sobbing and screaming 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
the defence ministry official told afp that bodies had been recovered at the
crash site by mid morning
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
an afp correspondent saw eight empty airplane seats that had washed up on the
shore just south of the airport
sleiman said authorities had ruled out terrorism or sabotage as the cause of the
crash
up until now we have ruled out foul play sleiman told reporters
this is painful tragic event we are sparing no efforts in trying to find
survivors he added
our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of those on board
the ethiopian news agency in addis ababa said ethiopian airlines has sent team
to beirut to investigate the crash
lebanon has been lashed by heavy rains and storms in the past two days that have
caused flooding and damage in some parts of the country
officials listed passengers and seven crew members as having been on board
the flight
the passengers include lebanese ethiopians one french woman one british
national and seven crew members among the lebanese were two children and three
dual nationals
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
many lebanese especially from the south of the country work in africa and
addis ababa is transit point
aridi said he had formed an investigative committee to determine the cause of
the crash and had contacted nearby countries to assist in the search and rescue
effort
the lebanese army navy as well as the united nations interim force in lebanon
unifil were assisting in the rescue aridi added
we have contacted everyone inside and outside the country that can assist us
and the lebanese navy the army and unifil have joined in the rescue the
minister added
according to defence ministry official the us has offered aircraft to
assist in the search operation
he said the french organisation responsible for technical investigation of civil
aviation accidents was taking part in the probe
hariri declared monday national day of mourning as parliament cancelled
scheduled legislative session
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
britain seeks global deal on banks crackdown
london jan afp
britain will lead push for global deal on reforming the banking sector
government minister insisted on monday amid concerns that the us may go it
alone
paul myners the minister charged with overseeing britain financial services
sector said international agreement on the issue would be the most important
legacy of the state led response to the financial crisis
the comments by city minister myners in the guardian newspaper came as britain
prepared to hold seminar on monday on the practicality of levying
extraordinary taxes on financial institutions
on sunday britain finance minister alistair darling expressed scepticism at
proposed us banking reforms saying they would not have prevented the financial
crisis and warning they risk undermining the global consensus
president barack obama last week announced plans to limit the size and scope of
us banks and financial firms saying they would never again get so big that
taxpayers have to bail them out
myners said monday that finding new way to keep taxpayers from shouldering
the bill for future bailouts will be far from easy but the uk will continue to
lead the international effort to do so
he added global agreement on this issue would be the most important legacy
of our response to this crisis and it is prize all governments have duty to
pursue
myners was later monday to host meeting in london to canvass opinion among
officials from nations the imf world bank and academics on the practical
challenges of implementing insurance levies according to the treasury
british prime minister gordon brown has urged leading economies including the
united states france and germany to consider tax on financial transactions
to make banks more accountable to society
brown has pressed the idea of so called tobin tax but said nations could also
consider an insurance scheme aimed at preventing repeat of the multi billion
dollar state bailouts of banks caused by the financial crisis
tobin tax was originally proposed in by nobel prize winning economist
james tobin as means of reducing speculation in global markets but tobin
himself later doubted his own idea was workable
the imf is meanwhile due to publish report in april expected to outline what
it considers to be the best form of extraordinary taxation on financial
institutions
tennis tsonga wins thriller to make quarters
melbourne jan afp
french th seed jo wilfried tsonga edged into the australian open quarter
finals with thrilling five set win over spanish th seed nicolas almagro on
monday
tsonga next plays third seeded serbian novak djokovic
philips reports switch to profit focus on costs innovation
the hague jan afp
dutch electronics giant philips reported huge improvement in underlying
performance and switch into net profit in the fourth quarter but said on
thursday times were still hard and it would focus on costs and innovation
the group which has already announced job cuts reported fourth quarter
net profit of million euros million dollars
this was big turnaround from loss of billion euros in the same period
of last year and was better than expected by analysts questioned by dow jones
newswires who had forecast net profit of million euros
the group attributed the turnaround to cost cutting and improved underlying
performance notably in emerging markets but warned that visibility beyond the
short term remains low and so we will continue our focus on cost
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
operating sectors healthcare consumer lifestyle and lighting as well as
million euro decline in restructuring and acquisition related charges
thanks to the increased resilience of our company we ended the year with
strong fourth quarter philips chief executive officer gerard kleisterlee said
in statement adding he was confident of further progress in
the company would propose dividend of euro cents per share he said up to
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 another cuts announced announced
in the fourth quarter of in bid to shave combined million euros
off spending by
on monday it said total sales for the three months to december stood at
billion dollars 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 to million
euros philips said adding it expected the upward trend in emerging markets to
continue
alert
germany issues arrest warrant for former argentine dictator videla
sri lanka president urges fair vote on election eve
colombo jan afp
sri lankan president mahinda rajapakse vowed monday to ensure the first post war
nationwide election goes off peacefully as he prepared to face his former army
chief after an acrimonious campaign
rajapakse urged the authorities to conduct free and fair vote on tuesday
seeking to counter opposition claims that he would launch coup to cling on to
power if defeated at the ballot box
the sri lanka government calls for peaceful election and stands committed to
taking whatever steps deemed necessary to ensure the same his office said in
statement
rajapakse who ordered the military offensive that ended the year conflict
against tamil rebels in may last year faces strong challenge from sarath
fonseka the army chief who led the troops in battle
total of police and public officials will be on duty to monitor
the election which is seen as too close to call there are no reliable opinion
polls in the indian ocean island nation
in the run up to the vote the opposition and government have made claim and
counter claim about each other malevolent intentions raising tension and the
prospect of instability and contested result
at least five people have been killed and hundreds wounded during campaigning
according to the private centre for monitoring election violence cmev
foreign minister rohitha bogollagama said monday the government was concerned
about armed army deserters who were allegedly working with fonseka campaign
there are that have got into some kind of lead role in the opposition
campaign he told reporters saying the renegades were under the commander of
former major general
he also claimed foreign interests had hand in the opposition campaign but
declined to identify them until after the vote ruling party lawmaker has
already pointed the finger at the united states
the opposition accused the government of planning to rig votes and unleash
violence to intimidate voters claiming sunday that the army state television
and police had been prepared for coup to keep rajapakse in power
the two sinhalese nationalists fell out after the war with fonseka retiring
from the military after he was sidelined by rajapakse and launching his surprise
bid for the presidency
the cmev said in report it had found serious flaws in the electoral process in
the run up to the race which has candidates standing
with deep regret we have to say that we have picture of dysfunctional
electoral process and the breakdown of the authority of the independent
elections commission cmev director paikiasothy saravanamuttu said
he said the level of violence was worse than during the previous presidential
election in and that the state authorities had blatantly disregarded the
orders of the elections chief to conduct fair poll
however he said high turnout among the million electorate could still
ensure that the final result reflects the will of the people first results are
likely to trickle out late tuesday with the final outcome expected to be known
on wednesday
rajapakse called the vote after only four years of his six year mandate to try
to harness public acclaim for victory over the tamil tiger rebels who
controlled one third of sri lanka just years ago
the conflict with the tigers who were fighting for homeland for the minority
tamil group cost between and lives according to un estimates
amid fears the opposition will not accept rajapakse victory because of fraud
the foreign minister played down warnings of street protests
don think the people of sri lanka have time for street protests he said
it has never happened
police deputy inspector general gamini navarathne said they had deployed
men to guard the polling booths and counting centres and step up security
in the coming week
we have activated the election security plan that will be in place for week
after the voting ends navarathne said adding that they received
complaints of poll related violence in the past two months
mekong tiger population plunges to crisis point wwf
bangkok jan afp
governments must act decisively to prevent the extinction of tigers in southeast
asia greater mekong region where numbers have plunged more than percent in
years the wwf said tuesday
the wild tiger population across cambodia laos myanmar thailand and vietnam
has dropped from an estimated in the last year of tiger to
around today according to the conservation group
the report was released ahead of landmark three day conference on tiger
conservation which will be attended in the thai resort town of hua hin from
wednesday by ministers from asian tiger range countries
it said the regional decline was reflected in the global wild tiger population
which is at an all time low of down from an estimated in the
and century ago
today wild tiger populations are at crisis point the wwf said ahead of
the start of the year of the tiger on february according to the chinese
lunar calendar
it cited growing demand for tiger body parts used in traditional chinese
medicine as major factor endangering the region indochinese tiger
population
infrastructure developments were also blamed by the report for fragmenting
tigers habitats such as roads cutting through forests
decisive action must be taken to ensure this iconic sub species does not reach
the point of no return said nick cox coordinator of the wwf greater mekong
tiger programme
there is potential for tiger populations in vietnam laos and cambodia to
become locally extinct by the next year of the tiger in if we don step
up actions to protect them
although indochinese tigers were once found in abundance across the greater
mekong region the wwf says there are now no more than tigers per country in
cambodia laos and vietnam
the remaining populations are mainly found in mountainous border areas between
thailand and myanmar but the wwf is calling on the ministers in hua hin to take
action to double the numbers of wild tigers by
this region has huge potential to increase tiger numbers but only if there are
bold and coordinated efforts across the region and of an unprecedented scale
that can protect existing tigers tiger prey and their habitat said cox
worldwide political efforts to secure the tiger future will culminate in
tiger summit in september in vladivostok russia hosted by prime minister
vladimir putin
there is an unprecedented opportunity to galvanise political will and action to
turn the tide on wild tiger numbers said mike baltzer head of wwf global
tiger initiative
