Queen not likely to abdicate any time soon

ONE European queen has announced her retirement. Any chance Europe's most famous queen - Elizabeth II of Britain - might join her?

Not likely, experts say.

The spectacle of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands stepping down in April at age 75 so her 45-year-old son can become king is sparking some speculation in Britain about whether Elizabeth might follow suit so her eldest son, Prince Charles, can start his reign.

Elizabeth is 86. Charles, 64, has been heir to the throne since he was three.

The British press tweaked these concerns Tuesday, with the Daily Mirror featuring a photo of Beatrix with the headline: "Queen Gives Up Her Throne to Son." Then, in smaller type, "Easy, Charles...It's Queen Beatrix of Netherlands."

Others said, "Sorry Charles...it's in Holland, not here!"

But commentators quickly noted that Elizabeth - who seems to be in excellent health - has said in the past that she regards being queen as a "job for life."

At her Diamond Jubilee last summer marking 60 years on the throne, former Prime Minister John Major said the idea that the queen would abdicate was "absolutely absurd." He said she would serve her entire life unless a health crisis made it impossible.

Author Robert Lacey, who has written several books about the British monarchy, said Beatrix's decision would likely firm up Elizabeth's resolve.

"It would reinforce her feeling that the Dutch don't know what monarchy is about, and that she should go on forever," he said. "The crown is a job for life in the British system."

He said the queen's mother, who lived to be 101, had made a "snarky" comment when Beatrix's own mother stepped down as monarch decades ago.

Lacey said the idea of abdicating is particularly unpleasant for Elizabeth because her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated in 1936 so he could marry Wallis Simpson, a divorced American woman.

The resulting scandal, remembered as a low point for the monarchy, brought her father, King George VI, to the throne.

No one in British history has been heir apparent as long as the now greying Charles, who is set to become a grandfather when his daughter-in-law, the former Kate Middleton, gives birth this (northern) summer.

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Pfizer profits jump on asset sale gain

THE world's biggest pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, has reported a big jump in fourth-quarter earnings as cost-cutting efforts plus a gain from an asset sale helped offset the loss of exclusivity of a blockbuster cholesterol drug.

Pfizer reported fourth-quarter net income of $US6.3 billion ($A6.08 billion), up from $1.4 billion in the year-earlier period. The results included a $4.8 billion gain from the sale of the Nutrition business to Nestle.

However, Pfizer continued to feel the effects of the loss of exclusivity of its popular Lipitor anti-cholesterol drug. Fourth-quarter revenue fell seven per cent compared with last year's level to $15.1 billion.

Pfizer's adjusted net income, which excludes one-time items such as the Nestle deal, fell seven per cent from the year-earlier period to $3.5 billion.

The pharma giant pointed to a number of promising new drugs that are at various stages of the developmental pipeline. These include the 2013 launches of Xiljanz, which treats rheumatoid arthritis, and Eliquis for the prevention of strokes.

"Overall, I am pleased with our 2012 financial performance, our recent product approvals and our expense reductions," said chief financial officer Frank D'Amelio.

In early 2011, Pfizer undertook a reorganisation of its research activities and eliminated some activities that were seen as ancillary. The company spent less than a year earlier on promotional programs and some corporate functions.

Pfizer also is studying a potential public offering of up to a 19.8 per cent stake in its Zoetis unit, an animal health division.

Pfizer offered 2013 guidance of $56-$58.2 billion in revenue, compared with the 2012 level of $59 billion, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.20-$2.30, compared with $1.94 in 2012.

Pfizer shares were up 0.8 per cent in pre-market trading.

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Mozambique military on flood duty

MOZAMBIQUE'S military has been called in to help tackle severe flooding that has killed 48 people and is likely to spread to the country's central and northern regions, officials say.

The armed forces have begun helping with clean-up operations in the devastated southern town of Chokwe, which has borne the brunt of the flooding caused by heavy rains.

"We can confirm the army is helping support the affected people," said Benjamin Chabualo, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence told AFP.

Soldiers have also been involved in rescue efforts and the navy has ferried people by boat to reach areas isolated by flooding.

According to UN figures around 250,000 people have been affected by the floods and 146,000 people are being housed in temporary shelters.

Water levels have begun to recede in the south of the country, but the situation remains critical, and the centre and north are expected to be hit by fresh rain.

In Chokwe many homes have been completely inundated, and the flood surge has left in its wake piles of rubbish, mud and the detritus of lives destroyed.

"In Chokwe families have begun cleaning their homes and (the national civil protection unit) will help the municipality to clean the city," civil protection spokeswoman Rita Almeida said.

Even as the floods ebb in some places, residents faced a tough slog to get clean food, water, shelter and avoid a legion of risks.

"The rains over southern Mozambique have ceased for the time being, and the floodwaters are slowly receding. However, many have lost everything in the floods," according to a UN situation report.

At least 48 people have died, some electrocuted by severed power lines trailing in the water, some crushed by collapsed buildings and some attacked by crocodiles

At temporary shelters aid agencies are feeding approximately 70,000 people.

While tens of thousands of people have made their way to government camps, many more have not.

"We know there are a great many people affected who did not turn up at these centres," said Rita Almeida, Mozambique's national disaster management institute.

Some may have gone to the houses of family and friends, others, in more remote regions, remained stranded.

Helicopters are airlifting food and medical supplies to isolated areas.

"We are lifting supplies to places where neither boats or vehicles can enter," the Director-General of Mozambique's Disaster Management Institute (INGC) said on national radio.

"We are doing all in our power to get food to people where they need it."

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Ford earns $1.6b in 4Q, warns of Euro loss

FORD has earned better-than-expected profits in 2012 as record results in North America trumped losses in Europe. It will have to do even better at home this year as the losses in Europe mount.

Ford earned $US5.7 billion ($A5.50 billion) for the year, or $1.42 per share. That was down from $300 million, or $1.51 per share, in 2011, as a $1.75 billion loss in Europe took its toll.

But Ford reported a record pretax profit of $8.3 billion in North America, where sales rose and Ford made more money on every vehicle it sold. The company is planning to give out record profit-sharing bonuses of $8,300 to 45,800 workers based on its North American results.

Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said Ford expects even higher results for North America this year, as demand for Ford's pickups and its newest products - the Escape small SUV and Fusion sedan - will likely grow. But Shanks said Ford now expects to lose $2 billion in Europe, up from the $1.5 billion loss it predicted a few months ago.

"Europe will hit bottom this year," Shanks said. He said the company is on track with a plan to close plants and introduce new vehicles in the region. Ford's sales fell by 15.5 per cent in Europe last year.

Worldwide, Ford's sales rose 7.5 per cent to 1.5 million in 2012. The company saw some of its biggest gains in Asia, where it's introducing a slew of new products and building seven new plants. Sales in Ford's Asia Pacific and Africa region were up 41 per cent over 2011.

For the fourth quarter, Ford said its pretax results were the best in a decade.

The company earned $1.6 billion in the final three months of 2012 as sales rose in every region outside Europe. Ford's net income fell from $13.6 billion in the same quarter last year, but that figure included a big accounting-related gain. Without that gain, Ford's earnings were up from $1 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.

Ford earned 31 cents per share, up from an adjusted 20 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2011. That beat analysts' forecast of 25 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 5 per cent to $36.5 billion, beating analysts' forecast of $33.5 billion.

In North America, Ford's pretax profit more than doubled in the fourth quarter to $1.87 billion.

Sales of cars and trucks in the US totalled $14.5 billion in 2012 - the industry's best performance in five years. Forecasts are for an even better 2013, with the Polk auto research firm forecasting 15.3 million vehicle sales as the economy continues to improve.

Ford lost some US market share in 2012 as its Japanese rivals roared back from earthquake-related losses the prior year. But Ford expects its share to grow in 2013.

Shares fell 23 cents to $13.55 in premarket trading.

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Smog again envelops huge swathes of China

RESIDENTS across huge swathes of northern China are battling through choking pollution at extreme levels, as Beijing was plunged into toxic twilight for the fourth time this winter.

Visibility was reduced to around 200 metres in parts of the capital, where mask-wearing pedestrians groped through a murky haze, despite warnings from authorities to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.

In a Beijing city office visited by AFP, up to 20 workers worried that the pollutants could penetrate indoors took extra precautions, wearing gas-mask style protective headgear at their desks.

State broadcaster China Central Television gave the smog's second day huge airplay, showing vehicles using full headlights in mid-morning to light their way through the noxious cloud.

More than 100 flights were delayed or cancelled at Zhengzhou Airport in Henan, the television said, adding that the haze would last until Thursday. At Beijing airport, 61 departing flights were delayed in the morning.

In the eastern province of Shandong, almost 2,000 passengers were stranded at Qingdao's main airport after it shut with 20 flights cancelled as visibility dropped to 100 metres, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The smog of recent days has hit a total area of 1.3 million square kilometres, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said - about twice the size of France.

It described the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Jinan as "gravely polluted".

The National Meteorological Centre (NMC) announced late on Tuesday that it was introducing a three-tier colour-coded weather warning system to alert the public to the severity of smog, according to Xinhua.

Yellow will indicate moderately smoggy weather, with orange for severe conditions and red for extremely severe levels of smog, the report said.

Beijing's winter of smog has sparked an Internet outcry and anger from state media.

The China Daily reiterated its calls for firm action on Tuesday, directing them at the capital's newly-installed mayor Wang Anshun, who formally took over on Monday.

"What do Beijing residents expect of their new mayor?" asked the newspaper in an editorial. "Of all the things that need improving, cleaner air will be at the top of many people's wish list."

Wang was quoted by Xinhua as saying: "The current environmental problems are worrisome."

The Beijing News went as far as to suggest banning or regulating next month's traditional and hugely popular New Year fireworks in the capital. Pollution readings spiked last year after the city's skyline lit up with explosions.

The toxic air follows an extreme bout of pollution earlier this month, when state media said readings for PM 2.5, particles small enough deeply to penetrate the lungs, peaked at 993 micrograms per cubic metre, almost 40 times the World Health Organization's recommended safe limit.

China's pollution problems are blamed on the country's rapid urbanisation and dramatic economic development.

AFP

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US stocks flat ahead of confidence data

US stocks are treading in place ahead of a key consumer confidence report, despite a series of better-than-expected company earnings.

In the first five minutes of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10.75 points (0.08 per cent) at 13,892.68.

The S&P 500, a broad measure of the markets, edged up 0.22 point (0.01 per cent) to 1,500.40.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.94 (0.25 per cent) to 3,146.36.

"Investors are cautious ahead of several economic reports and as the Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day policy meeting," Wells Fargo Advisors said in a market note.

The Conference Board is scheduled to release its consumer confidence data for November at 1500 GMT (0200 AEST).

Stocks closed mostly lower Monday after a string of rallies that left the indices at multi-year highs. The Dow dropped 0.10 per cent and the S&P 500 fell 0.18 per cent, while the Nasdaq gained 0.15 per cent, lifted by Apple.

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Top Bolshoi ballerina 'flees Russia'

ONE of the Bolshoi ballet's best known ballerinas has fled Russia for Canada after receiving threats, it has emerged, as the chief of the troubled company prepares to leave for Germany to receive treatment for wounds sustained in an acid attack.

Svetlana Lunkina told the Izvestia daily she had taken leave from the theatre until the end of the season over troubles stemming from a business dispute over a film in which her husband was involved.

Izvestia said she had already been outside Russia for some six months and that there is no clear link between her problems and the acid attack this month on the Bolshoi ballet's artistic director Sergei Filin.

Nevertheless, the flight from Russia of such a high-profile figure underlines the tense atmosphere at the Bolshoi after the attack on Filin which the management has blamed on internal conflicts.

"I think we need to react to these threats. These people have no right to interfere in our private lives or my professional work," Lunkina told Izvestia without making clear the nature of the threats.

Lunkina, who has danced with the Bolshoi since 1997, is one of the company's most experienced stars and was due this year to appear in a new work by the British choreographer Wayne McGregor.

"I was supposed to be doing a lot of interesting work, including several premieres," she said.

Having wowed the public in the Bolshoi's landmark 2011 staging of McGregor's Chroma, Lunkina was expected to take a leading role in his eagerly anticipated new version of the Rite of Spring at the Bolshoi this year.

Her prolonged disappearance from the Bolshoi stage had already puzzled fans who initially suspected she had suffered an injury before rumours spread that she was no longer in Russia.

Lunkina said the threats were linked to a film project that her husband, the producer Vladislav Moskalyev, had been working on featuring the great Russian imperial ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya.

Moskalyev was dropped from the project after he fell out with his business partner, who is now suing him for $US3.7 million ($A3.57 million).

The Bolshoi's spokeswoman Katerina Novikova confirmed to Izvestia that Lunkina had requested leave for the season and that the company had approved it.

But she said it was unclear how the company could help Lunkina given that the dispute was linked to her husband's work.

"Anna Pavlova also left Russia because of the activities of her husband," Novikova claimed, referring to the great Russian ballerina who quit her homeland in the early years of the 20th century.

Filin, 42, is currently in hospital in Moscow and has undergone several operations to save his eyesight and repair the disfigurement he suffered after a masked attacker threw acid into his face and eyes on January 17.

Russia's chief eye doctor Vladimir Neroyev told the RIA Novosti news agency that Filin, an acclaimed former dancer, would be sent to a clinic in the German city of Aachen in about a week.

Lunkina told Izvestia that she believed Filin's attacker "may not be someone who works at the Bolshoi theatre but someone linked to the theatre and ballet."

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