BBC news with David Austin
America’s biggest bank Citigroup, has announced that it has lost nearly 10 billion dollars during the final three months of last year. It's one of the largest quarterly losses in banking history. It's also Citigroup's first loss in modern times. It came after the bank wrote off more than 18 billion dollars as a result of bad loans in the US housing market. From Washington, Vincent Dowd reports.
This quarterly loss by Citigroup was much worse than most analysts expected. The group's new head, Vikram Pandit described the figures as clearly unacceptable. He took over only a few weeks ago. His predecessor was forced to resign because the bank had been hit primarily by trouble in the US home loans market. Growing difficulties with consumer credit and poor retail sales all point to an underlying nervousness in the US economy.
American officials say four people have been killed by a bomb in the Lebanese capital Beirut in which an American diplomatic vehicle was blown up. None of the dead was American. The car's driver, a Lebanese national was injured. Sixteen other people were wounded. Correspondents say some elements in the western-backed government will automatically blame Syria or its local agents for the bombing.
President Bush has approved a recommendation by his Defense Secretary Robert Gates to send an additional 3000 soldiers to Afghanistan. The move comes amid concerns over continuing violence by Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants. The United States and NATO have 50,000 troops in Afghanistan supporting the Kabul government. The alliance's supreme military commander, General John Craddock, told the BBC that countries contributing troops to the NATO operation in Afghanistan should consider it as a long-term commitment.
“I think the donor countries need to understand there is not going to be a short term situation. It may not be the current level of effort in the out-years, but there will be some level of effort required for many years.”
Washington has repeatedly asked NATO to send more troops and to end restrictions placed on their soldiers operating in active combat zones. Most European members have failed to do so.
The United States Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, has said that meat and milk from cloned cattle, pigs and goats is as safe for human consumption as that from conventionally-bred animals. But the agency says there’s still insufficient information about the safety of other cloned species, such as sheep. From Washington, here’s Kevin Connolly.
The FDA Report on Cloned Meat and Milk runs to 900 pages, but the crucial line is short and simple. It says healthy adult clones are virtually indistinguishable from their natural counterparts. That’s a clear endorsement of a new science but it does not mean that shops in the United States will suddenly be flooded with cloned meat and milk. Cloned animals remain hugely expensive, costing up to 20,000 dollars, /so their primary use for be is breeding stock.
World News from the BBC
Voters in the American state of Michigan are choosing which Republican candidate they want to stand in November’s presidential election. Mitt Romney is hoping for a good showing. His farther once governed the state, and he grew up there. Analysts suggest he will face a tight contest with John McCain, who has gained momentum after winning last week in New Hampshire.
The Kenyan parliament has met for the first time since disputed elections nearly 3 weeks ago. In its first vote, the opposition candidate Kenneth Marende was elected speaker, after a lengthy and acrimonious session. The choice confirms the opposition’s dominance of parliament. Mr. Marende said that he would act impartially but said the wishes of the majority must prevail.
“As your speaker I promise to preside in a fair but firm manner. I would be observing one basic principle of democracy, which is that why the minority must have their say, the majority must have their way.”
Meanwhile, efforts to mediate in the Kenyan crisis have received a setback with the former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan postponing a trip due to illness.
The United Nations Security Council has renewed the mandate for peace-keeping forces in Ivory Coast, which has been split in two since the civil war six years ago. It called on all parties to redouble efforts to hold long-postponed elections by June this year. Last week, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the troops should stay until targets have been achieved in disarmament and the organization of free and fair elections.
The United States military says that two American satellites have had to be rerouted to avoid hitting space debris from a Chinese missile test. 50 years of space exploration have led to a build-up of junk, such as astronauts’ gloves and discarded fuel cells in orbits around earth.
That’s the latest BBC news.