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Barcelona title hopes hit by away blow

VALENCIA, Spain — Barcelona’s bid to win back their Spanish league title from Real Madrid suffered another setback with a 1-1 draw away to struggling Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Real lead second-placed Barcelona by six points ahead of Sunday’s late match at home to Villarreal.

Frank Rijkaard’s Barca have won just three times away from the Nou Camp this season, and could ill afford to concede a second-half equalizer against Bilbao.

The visitors had been boosted by the return to the starting line-up of Argentina forward Lionel Messi following five weeks out with a thigh injury, while midfielder Deco ended speculation about his future by signing a new long-term contract in midweek.

And Barcelona made a strong start as Portugal star Deco supplied Bojan Krkic with a pass from which the teenager slotted the opening goal in the 35th minute.

However, the Basque side earned a point in the 79th minute as French defender Lilian Thuram appeared to clip substitute Joseba Garmendia’s cross as he covered the onrushing Fernando Llorente, deflecting the ball past goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

Ronald Koeman’s poor run of results at Valencia continued as unfashionable Almeria won 1-0 at the Mestalla earlier on Sunday.

The Dutch coach’s three-month tenure is looking increasingly insecure after his side extended their winless league run to nine matches, having registered a morale-boosting Kings Cup quarterfinal victory over Atletico Madrid in midweek.

Koeman played forward Javier Arizmendi at right-back, and the Spaniard failed to clear a cross that fell to Felipe Melo to score a 21st-minute winner.

Valencia held fourth place in La Liga when Quique Sanchez Flores was sacked, but now languish in 11th — just five points above the relegation zone.

Almeria, by contrast, climbed up to eighth place with the victory, level with Sevilla on 29 points.

I am not going to run away after a few months, said Koeman. The club is in a crisis but now is not the time to look for someone to blame.

If you lose at home you know that the coach comes in for criticizm. I accept that and will continue to work hard. I am calm but concerned.

Fourth-placed Atletico also suffered a shock defeat, the club’s third in a week, losing 1-0 away to Mallorca as Juan Arango netted the only goal in the 21st minute.

Espanyol failed to move above Atletico into fourth after losing 2-1 at home to lowly Real Betis.

Alberto Rivera put the visitors ahead on the strike of half-time but Luis Garcia leveled six minutes after the break, while Edu netted the winner in the 89th minute.

In Sunday’s other matches, Racing Santander netted a last-gasp equalizer to draw 2-2 at home to Real Zaragoza, bottom club Levante won 3-2 at Murcia, Getafe won 2-1 at Recreativo and second-bottom Deportivo La Coruna notched a much-needed 3-1 win at home to Valladolid. E-mail to a friend

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Bank: Rogue trader hacked computers

PARIS, France (CNN) — The trader accused of making fraudulent transactions that cost Societe Generale 4.9 billion ($7.2 billion) hacked computers and used several techniques of fraud, the French banking giant has said.

In a five-page document, Societe Generale rebutted suggestions it had disrupted markets as it unravelled the $73.5 billion in bets placed on European markets by the 31-year-old trader.

The bank took three days last week to sell the contracts on the Eurostoxx, DAX and FTSE indices at a loss of $7.21 billion, but it insisted Sunday it did so in a controlled way.

Chief executive Jean-Pierre Mustier said Kerviel appeared not to have profited personally from the transactions and worked alone. But The Associated Press reported him as saying: I cannot guarantee to you 100 percent that there was no complicity.

Kerviel was taken into custody on Saturday and under French judicial law he can be held until Monday afternoon.

Kerviel is accused of making fraudulent transactions involving European index futures that were beyond his permitted trading limits, then creating false transactions to cover his tracks.

He was being questioned at the Brigade Financiere offices, the financial division of the national police.

Speaking on the matter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she would meet French banking regulators Monday to begin establishing a timeline of events that led to the massive trading loss.

The bank discovered the fraud last weekend and confirmed it was an isolated case. It said the employee, who had worked for Societe Generale since 2000, had confessed and would be dismissed, and that his supervisors would also leave the company.

Societe Generale Chief Executive Daniel Bouton has said the trader set up a fictitious company and used that to trade futures. His risky trades then racked up losses.

The trader used his knowledge of the company’s control procedures to elude detection, Bouton said. The man knew the times he was likely to be checked and avoided fraudulent activity during those times, he said.

Bouton said it did not appear that the trader made money from his transactions, and that he may have been trying to cover up losses.

Still, as a result of the fraud, Societe Generale announced it was selling 5.5 billion ($8 billion) to raise capital.

Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, also speaking in Davos Saturday, called the situation a CEO’s worst nightmare.

We will certainly go back and try to understand how this happened to make sure it can’t happen, but again, no systems can prevent fraud, you just want to catch it as quickly as you can, Thain said.

Societe Generale said it would post additional writedowns of 2.05 billion ($2.99 billion) because of exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. It means the bank would devalue its assets because it had bought U.S. subprime mortgages which might not be repaid.

The fraud at Societe General is the largest-ever fraud by an individual in the securities business. It eclipses the case of British trader Nick Leeson, whose losses of more than $1.6 billion led to the collapse of Barings Bank. Read about previous scandals

It is also bigger than the case of Yasuo Hamanako, a Japanese copper trader whose risky bets on copper futures in the late 80s and early 90s cost the Sumitomo Copper company $2.6 billion. He was nicknamed Mr. Five Percent because at one time he was said to have controlled five percent of the world copper market.
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Slowdown fears persist as Davos wraps

DAVOS, Switzerland (CNN) — The world will weather its financial storm, but must battle climate change, poverty and conflict to reap a new industrial revolution, the global business elite said Sunday, trying to dispel pessimism that has hung over a major meeting in Switzerland.

As the five-day World Economic Forum wrapped up in the remote ski resort of Davos, the event’s co-chairs gathered for one last effort to steer the agenda away from market turmoil and promote its goals of achieving positive global change.

But the meeting — which began a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve made a surprise 0.75 point rate cut as it struggled to calm roller coaster financial markets, a move that drew mixed reaction in Davos — was racked with recession anxieties to the last.

There was also criticism that the annual meeting of more than 2,500 global powerbrokers — often criticized for being little more than a talking shop — had shied away from key discussing issues such as the conflict in Darfur.

People have to keep in mind, throughout history we have always had cycles, people shouldn’t be surprised, JP Morgan CEO James Dimon, one of the event’s co-chairs told the closing debate, hosted by CNN’s Hala Gorani.

In the past 10 or 20 years world economies have taken two billion people of poverty. We have the chance to do amazing stuff, the cycle will turn one way or the other, he said.

Co-chair K.V. Nath, head of India’s ICICI Bank said that while a slowdown in the U.S. economy would have global consequences, the process of decoupling — the growing autonomy of other world economies — would limit damage.

Decoupling is just starting to happen, it is early days yet, nobody talks of a slowing down just yet. Decoupling has started but the U.S. is center stage.

Three hundred years later when we look at this period of time we will say that this is like an industrial revolution taking place.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, meanwhile, stressed the crucial role of economics in ending conflict, underscoring his role as Middle East peace envoy and the Davos meeting’s efforts to shake its image as a corporate schmooze-fest.

If there is economic development then the politics is easier. If the people are poor and miserable then it is harder, he said.

Blair added: The good news about our world today is that idealism is the new realism and the reason for that is the interconnectedness.

PepsiCo chief Indra K. Nooyi, defended corporate efforts to combat global warming, insisting the concept of faceless businesses that pursue profit with no concern for its consequences was a thing of the past. Corporation has soul, she said.

Blair added that he was confident efforts to tackle climate change would bear fruit, but no one should underestimate the scale of the challenge.

He said: President Bush is right, you could have a deal within the year. I mean I’m not saying that’s it’s going to happen but I think it’s perfectly feasible to contemplate that but it’s only going to happen if the facts on the ground change.

On Saturday in Davos, Japan’s prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, stressed the need for environmental progress, proposing a 2020 deadline for countries to boost their energy efficiency by 30 percent. Watch exclusive CNN interview with Fukuda

But efforts by delegates including U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon, celebrity activist Bono and Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, to drive ethical debate at Davos, drew harsh words from Nobel prize-winner Elie Wiesel, complained at the failure to tackle the Darfur issue.

Wiesel, drew loud applause at the closing debate by also calling for Beijing to ease restrictions in Tibet, a demand that appeared to embarrass China Mobile boss Wang Jianzhou, another of the co-chairs at Davos.

I would like China to open its doors to the Dalai Lama, so I can accompany him to Tibet, Wiesel said.
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Suharto’s condition worsens to ‘very critical’

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) — Former Indonesian President Suharto’s condition has worsened to its lowest point since he was hospitalized over three weeks ago, doctors said Sunday.

Suharto entered the hospital on January 4 for treatment of a failing liver, heart and lungs.

The setback in his health comes just a day after his doctors said he appeared to be making a remarkable recovery.

Suharto was president of Indonesia from 1967 until his resignation in 1998 under immense political pressure.

His family is accused of amassing billion of dollars in state funds during his reign.
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Obama claims big win in South Carolina

(CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama claimed a significant victory in South Carolina on Saturday, telling supporters we are hungry for change.

The Illinois senator earned more than twice the vote that rival Sen. Hillary Clinton did, 55 percent to 27 percent, unofficial returns showed.

Former Sen. John Edwards was expected to come in third in the state’s Democratic primary, according to CNN projections.

Tonight, the cynics who believed that what began in the snows of Iowa was just an illusion were told a different story by the good people of South Carolina, Obama said to supporters Saturday.

A win in South Carolina was considered crucial for Obama, who won Iowa but finished second to Clinton in New Hampshire and Nevada. See what the results mean

I did not travel around this state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina. I saw South Carolina, he said.

The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders, Obama said. It’s not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white.

It’s about the past versus the future.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Obama had 55 percent of the vote. Clinton was second with 27 percent, followed by Edwards, with 18 percent.

Obama’s victory capped a heated contest in South Carolina, the first Democratic primary in the South and the first with a largely African-American electorate.

Obama, who is hoping to become the the nation’s first African-American president, did well with black voters, who made up about half of Saturday’s electorate, according to exit polls.

Black voters supported the Illinois senator by a margin of more than 4-to-1 over his nearest rival, exit polls indicate.

Among white voters, Obama took about a quarter of the vote, with Clinton and Edwards roughly splitting the remainder, according to exit polls.

Clinton congratulated Obama and said she was excited to move forward to the Super Tuesday contests on February 5.

Millions and millions of Americans are going to have the chance to have their voices heard and their votes counted, she told supporters at Tennessee State University.

Edwards also looked ahead to the next contests.

Now the three of us move on to February 5, where millions of Americans will cast their vote and help shape the future of this party and help shape the future of America, he said. Watch Edwards rally supporters

Our campaign from the very beginning has been about one central thing, and that is to give voice to the millions of Americans who have absolutely no voice in this democracy.

Clinton beat Obama only among elderly voters, according to exit polls.

Among voters 65 and older, Clinton beat Obama 40 to 32 percent. But Obama handily defeated Clinton in every other bracket, and overall garnered 58 percent of the vote among 18 to 64-year-olds while 23 percent of those voters picked Clinton.

And half of those polled said both candidates shared blame for the rancor between the two camps. Of those who said one of the contenders was more to blame than the other, 21 percent blamed Clinton, and 6 percent said Obama.

It’s fairly obvious it’s not going to be over February 5, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Edwards was born in South Carolina and won the state’s primary four years ago, when he was making his first bid for the White House. See voters head to the polls in South Carolina

Edwards had touted his native status, and as the Clinton and Obama camps have squabbled, Edwards continued to talk about the issues and suggests he’s the only adult in the field. Watch Edwards reach out to voters

I’m keeping moving no matter what, but I feel good about how things are moving right now here today, Edwards told reporters Saturday morning. I feel there’s a lot of energy behind my campaign.

On January 15, Edwards pledged, I’m in this for the long haul. We’re continuing to accumulate delegates. There’s actually a very narrow margin between Sen. Obama, Sen. Clinton and myself on delegates.

The state Democratic party estimated that more than 530,000 Democrats turned out for Saturday’s primary, as compared with 445,000 voters who showed up to vote last weekend in the state’s Republican primary.

The Democratic numbers topped the GOP turnout for the first time since 1992, when 445,000 Republicans turned out to renominate President George H.W. Bush.

Obama attracted more than 290,000 votes — nearly matching the total turnout of the 2004 Democratic primary.

This is an enormous turnout, CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. Democrats are wildly motivated in this election.

As South Carolina’s Democratic primary voters went to the polls Saturday, almost half of them had made up their minds more than a month ago, according to exit polls.

In the 2004 primary, nearly a quarter decided either the day of the primary or in the three days prior who they would support, but this year, only 10 percent of this year’s voters waited until Saturday to choose.

Another 10 percent decided only in the last three days, and 32 percent decided in the last month.

Forty-seven percent made up their minds at least a month ago, more than double the percentage of 2004.

The early exit polls were taken from a sampling of 1,269 voters statewide.

Following a rough campaign between Clinton and Obama, the two camps toned down the rhetoric in the past two days, returning to the issues and concentrating their firepower on the Republicans rather than on each other.

I think they [the Republicans] should be gracious and just say, We have messed this thing up so much we are just going to quit and … we shouldn’t be re-elected,’ but I don’t think that is what they are going to do, Clinton said.

South Carolina is the last big test for the Democrats before Super Tuesday, February 5, when nearly two dozen states will hold either primaries or caucuses — including such delegate-rich states as California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.

Florida holds its primary on Tuesday but no Democratic delegates are being awarded there because the national party is penalizing the state for moving its primary up earlier in the year.
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