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US employers shed fewer jobs than expected in February, cutting 36,000 jobs. This was better than the 50,000 analysts had been expecting. Last month's unemployment rate stayed steady at 9.7%, the same as in January, and lower than December's rate of 10%. Employment in the construction and government sectors fell, while there were more jobs for temporary workers. The Labor Department said it was unclear how much the severe snow storms had affected hiring and firing. US markets opened slightly higher at the opening, up 0.6% at 10,501.28 There are currently around 14.9 million unemployed people in the US and about 40% of these have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. The average number of hours worked in February slipped a little to 33.8 hours from 33.9 in January. "There appears to be some semblance of underlying improvement, but it's wrong to say it's buoyant," said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, employment has fallen by 8.4 million, but recent US economic data has been improving gradually. On Wednesday the Federal Reserve's influential Beige Book report said the US economy had continued to grow at a "modest" pace this year. In the last three months of 2009, the US economy grew at an annualised rate of 5.9%. | |
Sunday, March 7, 2010
US unemployment better-than-expected
Iceland rejects plan to repay Icesave debts
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| Advertisement Icelanders celebrate 'no' vote Voters in Iceland have overwhelmingly rejected proposals to pay the UK and the Netherlands in the wake of collapse of the Icesave bank. With a third of results counted, 93% of voters said "No" in a referendum. Iceland's prime minister says her government will remain in office and continue to seek a repayment deal. The British and Dutch governments want reimbursement for the 3.8bn euros (£3.4bn; $5.2bn) they paid out in compensation to customers in 2008. Speaking to the BBC's Politics Show, Chancellor Alistair Darling said the UK would get its money back. "It's not a matter of whether the sum should be paid. There is no question we will get the money back but what I am prepared to do is to talk to Iceland about the terms and conditions of the repayment." Asked about how long it would take for the UK to be repaid, Mr Darling said it would take "many, many years". The referendum followed the breakdown of talks on Friday between Iceland, the UK and the Netherlands. Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir refused to vote in Saturday's poll and said her government was seeking to continue the negotiations. With a third of votes counted, 93% of Icelanders have voted "No", less than 2% back the deal, and the remaining votes are invalid. Mrs Sigurdardottir said that her government would stay in office, despite the "No" results. "This has no impact on the life of the government," she said. "Now we need to get on with the task in front of us, namely to finish the negotiations with the Dutch and the British." During voting on Saturday, hundreds of protesters outside parliament in the capital Reykjavik banged pots and waved banners reading "Icesave No! No! No!". As results came in, Foreign Minister Ossur Skarphethinsson said talks with the UK and the Netherlands would continue, adding that the referendum result was good for his government's position. "It certainly doesn't weaken our hand," Mr Skarphethinsson said. Referendum defended The government had hoped to avoid the vote by agreeing a new repayment plan before the weekend. Icelandic voter: "I voted no of course" Mr Skarphethinsson told Reuters news agency he expected a new Icesave deal "in the next weeks, perhaps sooner". Britain and the Netherlands want the money as repayment for bailing out customers in the Icesave online bank, which folded in 2008 due to the global financial meltdown. President Grimsson rejected suggestions the vote was meaningless. "It's not a pointless exercise because the referendum, according to our constitution, is on whether the deal which the British and the Dutch insisted on at the end of last year, should remain in force as a law in this country," he told the BBC. "It is encouraging that in the last few weeks the British and the Dutch have acknowledged that that deal, on which the referendum takes place, is an unfair deal and that is by itself a tremendous achievement by the referendum... we will be able to continue the negotiations." Many Icelanders believe the plan should be rejected because they feel they are being penalised for the mistakes of the banking industry. "I will vote 'No' simply because I disagree very strongly with us... having to shoulder this burden," Ingimar Gudmundsson, a lorry driver, told AFP news agency. "We want to pay our debts but we want to do it without going bankrupt," Steinunn Ragnarsdottir, a pianist who voted in Reykjavik City Hall, told Reuters. Britain accused There is also anger against the UK for using anti-terrorist legislation to freeze Icesave assets in the country. "We find this a very strange method of thanking the Icelandic people for sacrificing the lives of their seamen during World War II. "The colonial attitude is still going strong. The UK should come to its senses." The Reykjavik government approved the repayment plan last December but it was blocked by Mr Grimsson in January, which led to the referendum being called. | |
Arni Gunnarsson, a former Icelandic MP, told the BBC News website: "We have not forgotten how Britain used battleships against Iceland during the cod wars.France replace injured Frederic Michalak with Yachvili
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| RBS SIX NATIONS
France will be without injured half-back Frederic Michalak as they aim to keep their RBS Six Nations Grand Slam bid on track against Italy next Sunday. Michalak was carried off with a left knee injury after two minutes of his club Toulouse's 29-0 win over Stade Francais in Paris on Saturday. He will be replaced in the squad by Biarritz scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili. Number eight Imanol Harinorduquy is set to be available despite withdrawing from a club game with a back problem. Harinordoquy, a key player in France's three victories so far, was due to play for Biarritz against Toulon on Saturday but jammed his back in the warm-up. Yachvili, who has 40 caps, made his return from two months out with a knee injury in the game, scoring a try, two conversions and two penalties in his side's 21-20 defeat.
Michalak has come on as replacement in all three France matches in this year's campaign so far, kicking a drop-goal in the 33-10 win over Ireland and a decisive late penalty in their 26-20 win over Wales in Cardiff. "I felt a crack on the outside of the knee when I tried to tackle a Stade player," said Michalak, who is also set to miss the championship finale against England. Toulouse's France contingent were all involved in their crushing 29-0 Top 14 win over Stade in front of 78,000 fans at the Stade de France. As well as Michalak, Clement Poitrenaud, Yannick Jauzion, William Servat and Jean-Baptiste Poux all started the game before coming off in the final quarter, while Thierry Dusautoir appeared as a replacement for most of the second half. Stade - missing the absent England flanker James Haskell - included centre Mathieu Bastareaud and hooker Dimitri Szarzewski while Italian brothers Mauro and Mirco Bergamasco both came off the bench in the second half. France, who also host England in the final match of the Six Nations on 20 March, are seeking their first championship clean sweep since 2004, and their fifth title of the Six Nations era. | |||
Avram Grant salutes Portsmouth spirit after FA Cup win
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| Advertisement Win is more than big - Grant Portsmouth manager Avram Grant saluted the pride and determination of his players after Pompey beat Birmingham to reach the FA Cup semi-finals. The club have had four owners this season, are in administration and facing a winding-up order from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. But two goals from Frederic Piquionne secured a 2-0 win and a return to Wembley for the 2008 FA Cup winners. "You can break many things but you cannot break our spirit," said Grant. "The spirit of the players and fans was high. Other people maybe thought we would break but nobody can break our spirit. "I'm very proud, when you see players of the age of Hermann Hreidarsson and David James giving their heart for the team. It's important for the spirit of football." Grant, who completed a lap of honour after the final whistle at a jubilant Fratton Park, also insisted taking the Premier League's bottom club to Wembley was as satisfying as reaching the Champions League final with Chelsea.
"There are some moments in your life you always remember and this is one of them," he stated. "I was in the Champions League final and was happy, this is the same." Birmingham can count themselves considerably unlucky that a late effort from Liam Ridgewell was disallowed. The defender rose to head at goal from close range and although Portsmouth keeper James clawed the ball clear, TV replays showed it had just crossed the line. "We should have had a lifeline with a perfectly legitimate goal but unfortunately it wasn't to be," said Birmingham manager Alex McLeish. "It would have given us a lifeline and I wouldn't bet against my team coming back if we got that goal. They've done that this season. "You would expect an official at this level to see that. They do the fitness tests and part of that is the vision side of things. It's a shame the guy missed that, I'm sure he will be hurting about it. McLeish calls for goal-line technology "I don't see how he could be obscured because he was over the line. Nobody was over the line so he should have been on that corner flag. James actually landed and caught it behind the line." The incident came shortly after Fifa announced they would not be pursuing goal-line technology. "My stance has always been that they should," added McLeish. "That is a frustrating decision by Fifa because I think they are doing their officials a disservice. "It's not easy for their guys to see it in a split second. We feel he should have seen that but in a split second, you see offside decisions (given). "I know you can't stop every part of the game but certainly for key decisions in a major competition like the FA Cup, your chances of getting to semi-finals and finals are few and far between for a little club like us." | ||
Fabregas could miss Porto match with hamstring injury
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Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas may miss Tuesday's Champions League tie against Porto after suffering a hamstring injury in Saturday's win over Burnley. The Gunners skipper scored the opener in the 3-1 victory but was forced off soon after and will undergo tests on Sunday to determine the damage done. Manager Arsene Wenger said: "How big the damage is we don't know yet. We'll see tomorrow and Monday. "We will have to make a late decision if he plays on Tuesday, certainly." Fabregas was sidelined for three weeks after aggravating the same hamstring in December against Aston Villa - a game in which he produced a 27-minute cameo appearance as a substitute and scored twice before limping off. Losing Fabregas again would be a massive blow to Arsenal, who need to turn around a 2-1 deficit when they host Porto in the second leg of their last-16 tie. And a lengthy absence would also seriously damage their hopes of winning the Premier League title - hopes they kept alive as they took all three points against Burnley to keep up the pressure on Chelsea and Manchester United.
While Arsenal coped without the 22-year-old Spaniard as they overcame strugglers Burnley, they should also have given their goal difference a healthy boost. Wenger admitted: "We had plenty of chances and sometimes we missed some easy chances. "It could have been four, five or six but as well Burnley had a chance to make it 2-2 after a corner. "In the end you are happy when you miss the chances we missed today, but you get the three points." Wenger also paid tribute to Theo Walcott, who responded to criticism of his performance for England against Egypt in midweek, by capping a fine display with a brilliant goal. "I believe he has been overly criticised recently and he did what a great footballer does by giving a great answer on the pitch with a good performance," Wenger said. "That shows that he's mentally strong. I was interested as well how to see how he would respond today. I was quite sure he would respond with a good performance. Walcott boosted by return to form "But you never know how deep it affects you when you get criticised. The way he answered at his age is remarkable." Wenger is also pleased with Arsenal's collective mental strength - particularly after the horror injury suffered by Aaron Ramsey last weekend - and he is optimistic over their title chances. "We are up for it, we have the hunger, we have the talent, we have the togetherness, we have the belief and we will fight like mad," he added. "The squad was already united but Aaron's injury has given us one more reason to do it [win the title]. We want to do it for him as well." | |||
Philippine troops kill seven 'militants'
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Philippine troops have killed at least seven militants from the Abu Sayyaf group in a raid on their hideout in the south of the country, officials say. An army commander said they believed the men might be linked to a wanted Malaysian militant - Zulkipli Bin Hir, also known as Marwan. Bodies are being identified. It is not clear whether he was among the dead. He is said to be one of the leaders of a key militant group in the region, Jemaah Islamiah (JI). A Philippines soldier was also wounded during the raid on the island of Siasi, near the main island of Jolo, Brig Gen Rustico Guerrero said. "We caught them by surprise," Gen Guerrero told reporters. He said 15 assault rifles and bomb-making materials had been seized. "We have information that Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, was hiding with the Abu Sayyaf group on the island, but we are not sure whether he was there during the raid," Gen Guerrero said. The US has offered a $5m (£3.2m) reward for information leading to the capture of Marwan, who is said to have been behind a series of bomb attacks in the southern Philippines since 2006. He is believed to have trained Muslim rebels in making bombs. Abu Sayyaf is the smallest and most radical of the Islamic separatist groups in the southern Philippines. JI has links to al-Qaeda and has a long track record of bomb attacks in Indonesia. | |
Togo opposition vows to challenge election result
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The main opposition party in Togo says it does not recognise the result of the election that has returned President Faure Gnassingbe to power. The Union of Forces for Change said there was widespread fraud and it planned to challenge the result in the country's Constitutional Court. The party said its leader, Jean-Pierre Fabre, had won the poll and would form the next government. Mr Gnassingbe is the son of a late dictator of Togo. He won 1.2 million votes of two million cast, officials said, considerably more than his rival's tally of 692,584, election officials said. Calm, so far But the UFC's director of communications, Eric Dupuy, said the results from the country's 35 constituencies were read out before being validated at the electoral commission and the announcement was illegal. Mr Dupuy told the BBC the party was challenging the result, even though it had no faith in the Constitutional Court as an independent body.
"We shall fight," Mr Dupuy was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. Reaction on the street has been limited with a small opposition demonstration quickly dispersed by tear gas on Saturday, says the BBC's Caspar Leighton in the Togolese capital, Lome. International observers have praised the relatively peaceful nature of the election. But they have also pointed to deficiencies at all stages of the process without saying whether they were enough to effect the outcome, our correspondent says. In 2005, when President Gnassingbe won his first term, there was massive violence and hundreds of people were killed. In the run up to this vote, all parties called for calm. So far the calm is just about holding, says our correspondent. | ||
Robbers raid Berlin hotel poker tournament
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| Advertisement Eyewitnesses say masked robbers stormed the hotel Armed robbers have stormed a luxury hotel in central Berlin where a poker tournament was taking place, German police say. One report said the gang - armed with assault rifles and hand grenades - made off with the tournament jackpot of 800,000 euros ($1.1m; £726,000). Several people were injured in the ensuing panic, although none of them seriously. About 1,000 poker players are taking part in the five-day tournament. "Several masked, armed individuals entered the Grand Hyatt Hotel and fled with a haul of money," police spokeswoman Heidi Vogt said. She declined to say how much had been taken but Berlin's Tageszeitung newspaper reported on its website that the gang had taken 800,000 euros. 'Panic' Participant Tobias Reinkemeier said there was panic when the robbers broke in.
"They screamed 'armed robbery'," he said. "We didn't know what was going on. Then there was panic and everyone jumped underneath tables before they tried to escape through the emergency exit." The attack happened at about 1430 local time (1330GMT). Four robbers entered from Potsdamer Platz while two others kept watch, Tageszeitung reported. Images of the chaotic scenes were broadcast by the private n-tv television station. Officials said most of the injuries were caused by panic. The tournament - organised by the European Poker Tour (EPT) - resumed about four hours after the attack, German media reported. | |
Switzerland referendum on providing lawyers for animals
By Imogen Foulkes
BBC News
Opponents say Switzerland has enough animal protection laws
A nationwide referendum is taking place in Switzerland on a proposal to give animals the constitutional right to be represented in court.
Animal rights groups say appointing state-funded animal lawyers would ensure animal welfare laws are upheld, and help prevent cases of cruelty.
Opponents say Switzerland does not need more legislation regarding animal protection.
The Swiss government has recommended that voters reject the idea.
There is already one animal lawyer in Switzerland.
Zurich has made legal representation for animals in cruelty cases compulsory since 1992.
The current incumbent is Antoine Goetschel. He has gone to court on behalf dogs, cats, cows, sheep, and even a fish.
Animal 'minority'
He believes speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves is the essence of justice.
"For me the animals are one of the weakest parts in society and they need to be better protected.
"So, it's kind of a fight for a minority that needs to be supported. And to make legislation more respectful towards humans and animals as a whole."
But Switzerland has very strict animal welfare laws, and the Swiss government, conscious that the taxpayer would have to pay the fees for a nationwide system of animal lawyers, has recommended voters reject the idea.
And there is opposition from Switzerland's powerful farming lobby.
Struggling with reduced subsidies and falling milk prices, Swiss farmers say animal lawyers would simply add another layer of bureaucracy to a system already overburdened with animal protection legislation.