European aerospace and defense giant and Airbus parent EADS (FR:005730:
12:40pm 01/13/2009
Delayed quote dataFR:005730 13.45, +0.23, +1.7%) on Tuesday confirmed its financial targets for 2008. "None of our objectives are changed because of the economic crisis," EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois said at a press conference. He stressed, however, that the top priority for the group at the moment is cash preservation and that the company doesn't plan to make a major acquisition in the current climate. Regarding Airbus, Gallois said EADS was ready to increase financing support to customers in order to protect deliveries in 2009. He also said that Airbus was ready to adjust production rates if necessary to avoid building inventories.
Selasa, 13 Januari 2009
EADS CEO Gallois reiterates financial targets
Senin, 12 Januari 2009
Indonesia says about 250 missing in ferry sinking
PARE-PARE, Indonesia (Reuters) - Nearly 250 people are still missing from an Indonesian ferry which sank in heavy seas at the weekend, officials said on Monday, as bad weather hampered rescue efforts.
A port official and a survivor told Reuters the passenger manifest might have been incomplete, raising the possibility there may have been more than the official tally of 267 on the stricken vessel.
Transport Minister Jusman Syafi'i Djamal told a news conference a preliminary investigation showed the 10-year-old boat capsized on Sunday after it was battered by waves in eastern Indonesia.
The meteorology agency had warned of bad weather in the area but Djamal said port authorities had given the ferry the go-ahead to leave and conditions were clear when it left.
"We will investigate thoroughly why the captain decided to go," the minister said. A ministry spokesman said that 23 survivors had been found so far, while 244 were missing.
Indonesia's aging transport system has been plagued by a spate of disasters in recent years including ferry and air accidents.
The ferry, which had 250 passengers and 17 crew according to the manifest, was traveling from Pare-Pare on the west coast of Sulawesi island to Samarinda city on Indonesia's side of Borneo island when it ran into bad weather on Sunday.
An official on Sulawesi quoted survivors as saying the ferry rolled over and sank after being hit by waves of more than 5 meters (16 feet) in the early hours of Sunday.
One survivor, Daeng Gassing, who spoke as several sobbing relatives comforted him, said he had managed to scramble onto a life raft after clinging to a piece of wood and had pulled five others to safety but his son and father-in-law were missing.
"I grabbed my son on my back and swam to a piece of wood, but my son disappeared after being hit by a big wave," he said.
Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis center, said that six deaths had been confirmed.
Taufik Bulu, head of maritime safety in Pare-Pare, said more people may have died than expected because many would have been asleep when the disaster struck.
Data on passengers using Indonesian ferries is notoriously unreliable and survivor Gassing said he was not on the manifest.
"I was not in the list of passengers because I bought the ticket on the ferry," he told Reuters.
Bulu, who said the manifest was based on 200 tickets reported sold by a ticket seller and 50 other names added just before the ferry left, said it was possible latecomers may have bought tickets on the ferry.RESCUE EFFORTS
Ferries are vital in the world's fourth-most populous country, which has more than 17,000 islands spanning a distance of 5,000 km, the equivalent of going from Ireland to Iran.
But accidents are common largely because of under-investment in infrastructure and a tendency to overload the boats.
The transport minister denied the ferry had been overloaded.
A senior official said the captain was not able to switch on a general alarm to warn passengers when the disaster struck.
The rescue effort, which involved aircraft and ships, was delayed on Monday due to bad weather, said search and rescue head, Ida Bagus Sanubari, before resuming later.
In Pare-Pare, a Reuters photographer saw a transport ministry ship loaded with body bags depart for the search area.
In the port, a group of about 100 people thronged around a list of passengers, some fainting and appearing hysterical, while in Samarinda, desperate relatives awaited news.
"We heard two more people had been rescued. Hopefully, one of them is my family member," Arifin Abdul Hafid told Metro TV.
Indonesia has come under pressure in recent years to improve its transportation sector following several serious accidents.
On December 30, 2006, a ferry with at least 600 onboard sank in a storm after it travelled between Borneo and Java island. About 250 survivors were found in the days after the accident.
A couple of months later at least 42 people were killed when fire broke out aboard a ferry that was heading from Jakarta to Bangka island off Sumatra.
There have also been accidents involving airlines, prompting the European Union to ban Indonesian carriers from its airspace.
ran tells Obama: Don't repeat false U.S. charges
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Monday not to repeat what it said were false accusations leveled against the Islamic Republic by the outgoing administration in Washington.
The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons and President George W. Bush has spearheaded a drive to isolate Tehran internationally. Tehran denies the charge.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman also suggested Tehran would respond in an "appropriate and timely" way to any change in U.S. behavior toward the country, which is embroiled in a row with the West over its disputed nuclear plans.
Iran, which has not had diplomatic ties with the United States in three decades, has reacted cautiously to Obama's election victory, saying it is waiting to see whether his presidency will herald real change in U.S. foreign policy.
Obama, who takes office on January 20, last week said he views Iran as a "genuine threat" but still favors initiating a dialogue with it. On Sunday, he said he will take a new approach toward Tehran that will emphasize respect for the Iranian people and spell out what the United States expects of its leaders.
"We have to see whether or not this change in orientation (by Obama) is in practice and whether it will bring about fundamental change in the behavior and stance of America in relation to Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi told a news conference.
He said Obama should not "repeat past statements and instances whose falsehood has been demonstrated by Iran," a reference to U.S. accusations about Tehran's nuclear plans and other issues -- although he did not mention specific charges.
"This is a very important point and undoubtedly Iran will undertake an appropriate and timely measure proportionate with the new U.S. behavior and action," Qashqavi said.
Obama said on Sunday he was concerned about the Islamic Republic's support of the Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah and about Iran's nuclear enrichment, which he said could trigger a Middle East arms race.
Washington also accuses Iran of backing militants in Iraq, another charge Tehran denies.
In a shift from Bush's policies, Obama has said he would seek much broader engagement with Iran, saying he was prepared to offer it economic incentives to stop its nuclear program but also that tougher sanctions could be imposed if it refused.
Professor Mohammad Marandi, who heads North American Studies at Tehran University, said he did not believe this would make Iran stop its enrichment activities.
Iran says its program is aimed at producing electricity so that the world's fourth largest crude producer can export more of its oil and gas.
"Iran is adamant to pursue its nuclear rights ... I don't think they are going to be ready to halt enrichment," he said. "Obama has to recognize that Iran doesn't need American incentives."
