Alívio do IRS é maior para 17% das famílias

[TRSM]

DJ Vodafone Chief Slams Charges Against 6 Co Officials>VOD


BERLIN (AP)--German prosecutors' decision to file charges against six former
top officials of wireless operator Mannesmann over the its 2000 takeover by
Vodafone of Britain (VOD) was "very unfair," Vodafone's chief executive said in
an interview released Saturday.
Among the former managers and supervisory board members charged last month
with grave breach of trust were Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann;
former Mannesmann chief executive Klaus Esser; Klaus Zwickel, head of Germany's
powerful industrial union IG Metall, and former supervisory board chairman
Joachim Funk.
"I believe the prosecutors' actions are very unfair to those affected,"
Vodafone chief Chris Gent told the newsmagazine Focus. "What they are doing to
Klaus Esser, Joachim Funk and Josef Ackermann is a disgrace."
The six risk up to 10 years in prison if convicted of arranging illegal
payoffs during the takeover, Duesseldorf prosecutors say.
The case flowed from Esser's decision to give up his bitter opposition to
Vodafone's hostile bid, followed by about 250 million marks (US$137 million) in
bonuses and other special payments to Esser and other Mannesmann officials once
the deal went through. Prosecutors maintain that Esser conspired with Funk to
authorize special payments for himself and other executives.
"Klaus Esser fought desperately for the independence of Mannesmann," Gent was
quoted as saying. "When I met Joachim Funk after the takeover, he was in a
bitter mood. He said to me: `You have ruined a great German company."'
"Of course I denied that," he added. "But it shows one thing -that is not the
kind of language you hear from people who have made a deal to enrich themselves
and relented because of that."
Ackermann, Zwickel, Funk and Esser have denied the charges. The stock swap
deal was valued at US$180 billion -at the time, the largest corporate merger
ever.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-03-03 1610GMT(AP-DJ-03-08-03 1610GMT)

Mar-08-2003 16:10 GMT
Symbols:
GB;VOD PT;TLE US;VOD DE;VOD NL;VOLI DE;TCP DE;TCPF DE;TCPX GB;VFT
XT;TCP
Source DJBK Dow Jones Bankers Wire
Categories:
I/CTS I/TEL I/TLS I/XBNY I/XFT1 I/XGTI I/XISL I/XST5 I/XSTT N/BKG
N/CMDI N/DJG7 N/DJI N/DJIV N/DJMO N/DJPT N/DOI N/ECR N/EWR N/FXW N/IPR N/WER
N/ADR N/CNW N/DJEN N/DJWI N/GEN N/UKMR N/WEI M/NND M/UTI P/APNY R/EC R/EU
R/GE R/UK R/WEU MST/I/CTS MST/I/TEL MST/I/LDS MST/S/ADR MST/I MST/B/BRK
MST/R/EU MST/R/EUR MST/R/DE MST/R/GB MST/R/WEU

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PARIS (AP)--President Jacques Chirac is lobbying other heads of state to
convene an emergency summit of U.N. Security Council members in search of a
compromise on Iraq, his office said Saturday.
The Elysee presidential palace also reiterated France's objection to a
U.S.-British draft resolution giving Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein a March 17
ultimatum to prove he has given up weapons of mass destruction.
"The ultimatum resolution is not acceptable and therefore will not be accepted
by France," the president's office said.
On Friday at the Security Council in New York, Foreign Minister Dominique de
Villepin rejected the idea of a deadline and unveiled his own plan: a summit at
the council to let leaders of the 15-nation body work through the tense debate
over Iraq's disarmament.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed the French idea, saying he saw
no need for such a summit when key powers have been expressing their views
"openly and candidly."
France, however, remains committed to the idea.
In a flurry of behind-the-scenes lobbying, Chirac has consulted certain heads
of state to push for a summit and plans to consult others over the next few
days, his office said Saturday.
Chirac has so far received a positive response regarding the proposed summit,
his office said, without elaborating or mentioning which leaders Chirac had
communicated with.
"War is not a small thing," the president's office said. "When you declare
death or life, this merits being taken to the highest level of responsibility,
(where leaders could) think through crisis management."
Despite intense lobbying, the United States and Britain have been unable to
muster the nine votes required from the 15-member Security Council to adopt a
resolution approving war.
France, Russia and China -who all have veto power -rejected the ultimatum, put
forward by Britain after chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohammed
ElBaradei gave largely upbeat assessments of Iraq's cooperation with the
inspectors.
France has led opposition to a rush to war, saying inspections are working,
albeit slowly, and weapons experts need more time to do their job.

[TRSM]

DJ WRAP: Israeli Helicopters Kill A Hamas Leader, 3 Others


GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)--Israeli attack helicopters fired missiles at a
passing car Saturday, killing one of Hamas' key leaders and three of his body
guards. The strike came a day after the militant Islamic group claimed
responsibility for two deadly attacks that killed 16 Israelis.
The apparent target of Saturday's strike was Ibrahim Makadmeh, 51, a key
figure in the Islamic group's military and political wing accused of engineering
several terror attacks that killed 28 Israelis, the last being a tank attack
that killed four soldiers in Gaza last month.
Saturday was the first killing of a top Palestinian military leader since
Israeli forces killed Abu Ali Mustafa of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine in August of 2001. The killing prompted the assassination of Israeli
Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in a Jerusalem hotel on Oct. 17, which in turn,
sparked Israel's occupation of the West Bank.
"We know how to deal with this," Hamas spokesman Ismail Hanyyia said Saturday.
The Israeli army had no comment but said it would continue to fight back against
Islamic militants.
Saturday's strike came amid escalating tensions, as a new hardline Israeli
government reoccupied parts of the Gaza Strip on Friday, and the Palestinian
Authority considered new leadership -a reform demanded by the United States,
which is nearing war with Iraq.
"I want the international community to know that the Israeli occupation is the
biggest obstacle standing in front of our reform process," embattled Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat said at the opening of the PLO's Central Council meeting on
Saturday. The council is expected to approve the idea of creating the position.
The decision will then go to Palestinian legislators.
Arafat has tapped Mahmoud Abbas for the post, a move that could signal that
Arafat has given up on the idea of appointing a politically weak prime minister.
Abbas has not given an answer yet.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ushered in a new government
that promised stepped up raids against militants and settlement development, a
threat followed by an attack Friday that killed a husband and wife in a Jewish
settlement, and a suicide bombing on Wednesday that killed 14 Israelis and one
American in the northern city of Haifa.
Hamas claimed responsibility for Friday's attack on the Jewish settlement of
Kiryat Arba, as well the suicide bus bombing Wednesday.
It appeared Israeli troops were digging in for the long haul in parts of Gaza
-considered a stronghold of Hamas. Soldiers have conducted two weeks of military
raids against militants there, leaving more 40 dead, at least 10 of whom were
civilians.
"I was about to open my shop when suddenly a helicopter came from the sky,"
said Abdullah Ali, 60, a grocery shop owner who was covered with blood from
Saturday's air strike. "I saw legs and hands fly in the air and then suddenly I
fell down on the ground."
The elusive Makadmeh had kept a low-profile after being released in 1998 by
Palestinian Authority officials. Before that, he had spent several years in
Israeli jails.
Last week, Israeli forces captured Mohammed Taha, 65, a co-founder of the
Hamas movement, and his son Ayman, linked to the top Hamas bomb maker. The other
three killed in Saturday's strike were Makadmeh's body guards, the group said.
The residential street where Saturday's strike occurred was pocked with huge
craters from the missiles. Personal belongings, including ID cards and shoes,
blanketed where the street.
Friday's attack on Kiryat Arba near the West Bank town of Hebron came after
Israeli soldiers surrounded Palestinian houses, set up military posts in
abandoned buildings and dug trenches in a northern chunk of Gaza during the most
significant reoccupation in 29 months of fighting.
In the settlement attack Friday, two Palestinian gunmen barged into a sabbath
dinner, killing a husband and wife, before being shot dead themselves. In the
nearby settlement of Nahal Negohot, the army said it shot and killed two
Palestinian gunmen who were trying to infiltrate the settlement.
"Palestinian terrorists continue to attack on the holiest day of the Jewish
week," said David Baker, a spokesman for the Israeli government.
Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet official, criticized Saturday's air strike
in Gaza and said there is no longer due process in Israel.
"This is more like the mafia than the government," Erekat said.
In the Gaza Strip, soldiers seized a densely populated 4-square-mile area
Friday, in what the army called an open-ended operation. In the past, soldiers
would hold quick in-and-out raids into Gaza towns and neighborhoods that usually
lasted hours or days.
The Gaza operation began Friday and was aimed at preventing Palestinians from
firing small, homemade Qassam rockets at Israeli border towns. About 100 tanks
rumbled into the area ringed by the Palestinian towns of Beit Hanoun, Beit
Lahiya and the Jabaliya refugee camp.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-03-03 1123GMT(AP-DJ-03-08-03 1123GMT)

Mar-08-2003 11:23 GMT
Source DJBK Dow Jones Bankers Wire
Categories:
N/BKG N/CMDI N/DJI N/DJIV N/DJMO N/DOI N/EWR N/FXW N/IPR N/WER N/DJWI
N/GEN M/NND P/APNY R/ISR R/ML R/PSE MST/B/BRK MST/R/IL MST/R/MID MST/R/PSE

[TRSM]

DJ ElBaradei: US Relied On Forged Reports Of Iraqi Weapons


UNITED NATIONS (AP)--U.N. weapons inspectors cast doubts on U.S. assertions
about Iraq's weapons programs, saying Baghdad is cooperating with inspections
and some documents presented as evidence were forged.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that experts had dismissed as
counterfeit documents that allegedly showed Iraqi officials shopping for uranium
in Africa two years ago.
ElBaradei, who made his strongest statement yet in support of Iraqi
cooperation, also rejected a Bush administration claim that Iraq had tried to
purchase high-strength aluminum tubes to use in centrifuges for uranium
enrichment.
"There is no indication of resumed nuclear activities," he said.
Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix welcomed Iraq's "proactive" cooperation with
his teams but didn't declare Iraq free of weapons of mass destruction.
Blix noted that Iraq is now providing inspectors with proactive cooperation,
something he had asked for repeatedly through the winter.
However, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States was still
convinced Iraq was hiding banned weapons.
"I think I have better information than the inspectors," Powell said in an
interview on the ABC television network. "I think I have more assets available
to me than the inspectors do."
CIA Director George Tenet has said all relevant information had been passed
along already.
Blix said that even with continued cooperation from Iraq, it will take some
time to ensure Iraq has carried out key remaining disarmament tasks which he
intends to present to the Security Council later this month.
"It will not take years, nor weeks, but months," he said, stressing that even
after this is completed, Iraq should be subject to ongoing inspections and
monitoring of its facilities.
Iraq's destruction of its Al Samoud 2 missiles constitutes a "substantial
measure of disarmament," Blix said.
"We are not watching the destruction of toothpicks. Lethal weapons are being
destroyed," he said.
The chief inspector, whose teams are responsible for the hunt for biological,
chemical and missile programs, said Iraq had recently provided additional
documentation on anthrax and the VX nerve agent.
"Many have been found to restate what Iraq has already declared," he said.
Blix didn't declare Iraq free of weapons of mass destruction.
In a veiled jab at the United States, he said inspectors had been unable to
verify some claims about hidden Iraqi weapons and asked again for more
information about suspect sites.
ElBaradei told the council that the IAEA found no evidence to support reports
that Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger.
"Based on thorough analysis, the IAEA has concluded, with the concurrence of
outside experts, that documents which formed the basis for the reports of recent
uranium transactions between Iraq and Niger are in fact not authentic," he said.
"We have therefore concluded that these specific allegations are unfounded."
"In the past three weeks, possibly as a result of ever-increasing pressure by
the international community, Iraq has been forthcoming in its cooperation,"
ElBaradei said. "I do hope that Iraq will continue to expand the scope and
accelerate the pace of its cooperation."
He reported again that in the area of nuclear weapons, inspections were moving
forward.
"After three months of intrusive inspections, we have to date found no
evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in
Iraq."
-0

(MORE) Dow Jones Newswires
08-03-03 1118GMT(AP-DJ-03-08-03 1118GMT)

Mar-08-2003 11:18 GMT
Source DJBK Dow Jones Bankers Wire
Categories:
I/CHC I/CHM N/BKG N/CMDI N/DJG7 N/DJI N/DJIV N/DJMO N/DOI N/EWR N/FXW
N/IPR N/WER N/DJWI N/GEN N/IAE N/NUK N/PET N/UNN M/BSC M/MMR P/APNY R/IZ
R/ML R/NME R/US MST/I/CHC MST/I/CHM MST/B/BRK MST/N/LPW MST/N/PET MST/R/IQ
MST/R/MID MST/R/NME MST/R/US

[TRSM]

DJ Mass Dept of Health Tightens Lab Security Safeguards.


BOSTON (AP)--The state Department of Public Health will put new security
safeguards into place at the state lab after 60 vials of DNA from a bacteria
deemed a possible bioterrorism agent were discovered missing.
The missing material was DNA from Burkholderia bacteria, which is common in
southeast Asia and can cause a tuberculosis-type illness. The DNA was being used
to develop a test for two species of the bacteria under a U.S. Centers for
Disease Control contract.
Burkholderia is considered to be a potential agents for bioterrorism, but
having the DNA alone would be virtually useless to terrorists, said lab director
Ralph Timperi.
Officials said the genetic material most likely was destroyed at the lab.
"There are only two possibilities," Timperi told the Boston Herald. "It was
destroyed and not documented, or it's in our lab and we can't find it."
Even if the material had gotten out of the lab and into the wrong hands, it
poses no danger.
"You can't make a living organism from it," Timperi said. "It's a protein. You
can't grow it."
Timperi said it was unlikely the material made it out of the lab because
access to the storage area is tightly controlled.
The DPH discovered the vials were missing while it was reducing inventory of
biological agents in advance of new federal security rules that go into effect
next week.
After DPH officials learned that the genetic material was missing, with no
record of its being destroyed, they decided to institute additional safeguards
to avoid such errors in the future.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-03-03 1049GMT(AP-DJ-03-08-03 1049GMT)

Mar-08-2003 10:49 GMT
Source DJBK Dow Jones Bankers Wire
Categories:
N/BKG N/CMDI N/DJG7 N/DJI N/DJIV N/DJMO N/DOI N/EWR N/FXW N/IPR N/WER
N/DJWI N/GEN N/HLT M/NND P/APNY R/MA R/NME R/US R/USE MST/B/BRK MST/R/US/MA
MST/R/NME MST/R/US

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DJ UK: New UN Resolution On Iraq Possible Despite Opposition


LONDON (AP)--British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he still believes the
United Nations can pass a new resolution authorizing war with Iraq, despite
steadfast opposition from veto-wielding members of the Security Council.
"We are at a difficult time, but I believe that by the process of argument we
should be able to get to a point where we can get a second resolution," Straw
told British Broadcasting Corp. radio Saturday.
On Friday, Straw proposed a U.S.-supported motion giving Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein until March 17 to prove he has given up his weapons of mass
destruction.
France, Russia and China - who all have veto power -rejected the ultimatum,
put forward after chief weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohammed ElBaradei gave
largely upbeat assessments of Iraq's cooperation with the inspectors.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Security Council would vote on
the resolution next week.
"What this meeting has been about is getting members of the Security Council,
all of them, to face up to the seriousness of the Iraqi situation and to face up
to their responsibilities," Straw said.
The U.S. and Britain have said they are prepared to go to war with a
"coalition of the willing" if the U.N. does not sanction force. That would bring
more trouble for Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose support for war has divided
the country and his Labor Party.
Thousands of anti-war protesters were due to march later Saturday through the
northwestern English city of Manchester and in smaller towns across the country.
Straw said there was still a chance war could be avoided.
"But I know too that the only reason we have got any co-operation at all out
of Iraq is because of the credible threat of force," he said.
ElBaradei told the BBC that war could be avoided only if Iraq showed a
dramatic change of heart.
"Clearly the ball is very much in Iraq's court," he said. "I hope that Iraq
understands that they need to have a dramatic change in their attitude to
demonstrate to the international community that they are fully, actively
co-operating in providing evidence that they do not have chemical and biological
weapons. This indeed is the crux of the matter now."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-03-03 1023GMT(AP-DJ-03-08-03 1023GMT)

Mar-08-2003 10:23 GMT
Source DJBK Dow Jones Bankers Wire
Categories:
N/BKG N/CMDI N/DJG7 N/DJI N/DJIV N/DJMO N/DOI N/ECR N/EWR N/FXW N/IPR
N/WER N/DJWI N/GEN N/PET N/UKMR N/UNN M/NND P/APNY R/EC R/EU R/IZ R/ML
R/NME R/UK R/US R/WEU MST/B/BRK MST/N/PET MST/R/EU MST/R/EUR MST/R/IQ
MST/R/MID MST/R/NME MST/R/GB MST/R/US MST/R/WEU

[TRSM]

DJ Russian/Min/Iraq -2: US Action 'Would Violate UN Charter'


"We believe that it is not necessary at present to adopt any new resolutions,"
Ivanov said, according to a Foreign Ministry transcript released Saturday of his
interview with Russian state television. The interview was conducted in New
York, where Ivanov attended Friday's U.N. Security Council meeting.
"If the United States unilaterally begins military action in relation to Iraq,
it would violate the U.N. Charter and, of course, when the U.N. Charter is
violated, the Security Council must gather, discuss the situation and make the
corresponding decisions," Ivanov said, adding that while he hoped it wouldn't
come to that, Washington seemed headed for "exactly that scenario."
Russia, which is a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, has called
for giving the U.N. inspections longer to work and has warned the United States
that it believes military action now against Baghdad would be a mistake.
"The path of political settlement may not be easy, but it is reliable. It
guarantees peace in a tense region," Ivanov said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-03-03 1018GMT(AP-DJ-03-08-03 1018GMT)

Mar-08-2003 10:18 GMT
Source DJBK Dow Jones Bankers Wire
Categories:
N/BKG N/CMDI N/DJG7 N/DJI N/DJIV N/DJMO N/DOI N/ECR N/EWR N/FXW N/IPR
N/WER N/DJWI N/GEN N/PET N/UKMR N/UNN M/NND P/APNY R/ASI R/EC R/EEU R/EU
R/FE R/FEO R/IZ R/ML R/NME R/RS R/UK R/UR R/US R/WEU MST/B/BRK MST/N/PET
MST/R/ASI MST/R/EU MST/R/EEU MST/R/EUR MST/R/IQ MST/R/MID MST/R/NME MST/R/RU
MST/R/GB MST/R/CIS MST/R/US MST/R/WEU

[TRSM]

EDP aposta no negócio do gás natural em Espanha (07h47, 8 de Março)







Em 2002, o lucro da Hidrocantábrico cresceu 48 por cento

A EDP-Electricidade de Portugal está a apostar no desenvolvimento do negócio do gás natural em Espanha, através da Hidroeléctrica del Cantábrico, afirmou ontem o presidente do conselho de administração da eléctrica portuguesa.

Em entrevista à Lusa, Francisco Sánchez explicou que, na fileira do gás, a Hidrocantábrico tem estado a "aproveitar oportunidades", desenvolvendo o negócio em duas vertentes: crescimento da rede e sinergias.

A Hidrocantábrico é a única eléctrica espanhola que está presente no negócio do gás, através da Gás de Asturias, com 150 mil clientes. Para crescer, concorreu à privatização da basca Naturcorp, que se encontra no processo em fase final de decisão e, se vencer o concurso, poderá triplicar o número de clientes, para cerca de 450 mil. Vencer este concurso tornaria a Cantábrico na segunda maior empresa espanhola de gás. A eléctrica asturiana adquiriu já a Gás de Figueras, uma distribuidora da Catalunha, por um investimento líquido da ordem dos 13 milhões de euros. Esta empresa tem cerca de 30 mil clientes.

O desenvolvimento do negócio passa, também, por uma aproximação entre o gás e a electricidade, tendo já sido iniciada uma oferta comercial conjunta entre a Hidrocantábrico e a Gás de Astúrias.

Para responder à evolução prevista de consumo nos próximos anos, a HC vai também investir cerca de 800 milhões de euros no aumento da capacidade de produção. Segundo o gestor, o dinheiro será aplicado, até 2008, na construção de duas centrais de ciclo combinado e no reforço da produção de energia eólica. Estes investimentos serão financiados através dos meios libertos pela operação da própria empresa, seguindo o mesmo trilho demarcado para os negócios da EDP no Brasil.

No ano passado, a HC assegurou ainda parte do fornecimento de energia eléctrica aos cerca de 200 clientes da EDP Energia (não vinculados ao sistema nacional de energia).

Em 2002, no primeiro exercício completo da responsabilidade da gestão da EDP - Electricidade de Portugal, o lucro da Hidrocantábrico cresceu 48 por cento, para 111 milhões de euros. "É, historicamente, o melhor exercício da Hidrocantábrico", afirma Francisco Sánchez.

A operação de controlo da eléctrica asturiana, através de um processo de ofertas públicas que durou mais de oito meses, permitiu à EDP tornar-se na única eléctrica ibérica a deter activos de produção em Portugal e Espanha.


publico.pt

[TRSM]

Nova Iorque fecha a ganhar

03-07-2003 20:56



As bolsas de Nova Iorque fecharam a última sessão da semana a ganhar, apesar do porta-voz da Casa Branca, Ari Fleischer, não ter confirmado as notícias de detenção de dois filhos do líder da al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden.
O Dow Jones ganhou 0,86 por cento para 7.740,03 pontos, o Nasdaq Composite valorizou 0,18 por cento para 1.305,29 pontos e o S&P 500 avançou 0,82 por cento para 828,88 pontos.

Em destaque, esteve a Intel, que perdeu 4,13 por cento, depois de ter revisto em baixa as estimativas de receitas dos primeiros três meses do ano, de sete mil milhões para 6,8 mil milhões de dólares.

A pesar sobre o sentimento estiveram a notícia de que a economia perdeu postos de trabalho, inesperadamente, em Fevereiro e as declarações do presidente dos EUA, George W. Bush, no sentido de que está pronto a avançar com um ataque militar ao Iraque sem o apoio da comunidade internacional.