centre for drug addicted youth as part of his less than conventional itinerary
his laid back manner and ready humour won the praise of press and punters alike
with many likening him to his much beloved late mother
some in the crowds which gathered across the city to see the prince greeted him
with the affectionate nickname willie wombat which was bestowed upon him
during his last visit as an infant
the prince took self deprecating dig at his musical tastes after rap jam
performance by hip hop artists at youth dug rehab centre saying his choice of
music often made him the butt of jokes
can do any beatboxing not so good at that he told prime minister
kevin rudd referring to the vocal percussion stylings of the hip hop trio
before them
normally get the piss taken out of me for my choice of music he joked
mine very varied like rock linkin park kanye west
his marksmanship impressed soldiers at major army base on the city
outskirts winning approval with his willingness to get down on his belly for
live firing exercise with elite snipers returned from iraq and afghanistan
understand he has been in the air force said private jace barnett of
william who graduated as fully fledged royal air force helicopter pilot just
before his trip to australia
it would be bit embarrassing if we let rafie beat us barnett joked to
state radio admitting there had been some good natured rivalry with the prince
on the rifle range
second in line to the british throne william was welcomed to australia tuesday
with traditional aboriginal smoking ceremony in the poor inner city
neighbourhood of redfern which was presided over by an elder daubed in body
paint and bearing smouldering gum leaves
he met with aboriginal elders to discuss among other things the repatriation
of indigenous artefacts and remains including the head of indigenous warrior
pemulwuy
but it wasn all work and no play william reportedly slipped out for seafood
platter at exclusive nightspot bungalow on tuesday night and was taken on
high speed boat ride across the harbour after his official duties wednesday
he will visit bushfire ravaged areas near melbourne on thursday before returning
home the following day his australia tour follows an official visit to new
zealand where he represented his grandmother queen elizabeth ii for the first
time
alert
al qaeda seeking to provoke new india pakistan war gates
vietnam to issue three billion dollars in bonds
hanoi jan afp
vietnam said wednesday that it is planning to issue trillion dong worth of
government bonds this year to fund transport and other projects
the capital raised equivalent to three billion dollars will also fund health
projects schools and the relocation of residents for major hydro electric
project it said
separately on monday officials began roadshow to market one billion dollars
worth of international bonds partly for investment in the country first oil
refinery the state bank said
those bonds have maturity of years and yield of seven percent per year
the official vietnam news agency said
vietnam economy grew percent last year but that expansion came at high
cost with budget deficit that reached seven percent of gross domestic
product
the trade deficit reached billion dollars which an analyst described as
too high
after burning through its official dollar reserves vietnam in november devalued
the dong in bid to bolster trade which was badly hit during the global
financial crisis
urgent french deficit limited to percent minister
paris jan afp
the deficit in france public finances was limited to percent of gross
domestic product this year rather than the percent initially forecast the
country budget minister said wednesday
urgent french deficit limited to percent minister
paris jan afp
the deficit in france public finances was limited to percent of gross
domestic product this year rather than the percent initially forecast the
country budget minister said wednesday
indian scientist denies un glacier melt date
new delhi jan afp
an indian scientist at the centre of new climate science storm has denied ever
saying himalayan glaciers could melt by an alarming date that was used
by the un top global warming body
the controversy focuses on reference by the un intergovernmental panel on
climate change to the probability of glaciers in the himalayas disappearing by
the year and perhaps sooner is very high
in landmark report the ipcc sourced the date to green campaign group
wwf which in turn took the prediction from an interview given by indian
scientist syed hasnain to new scientist magazine in
the ipcc has said it is reviewing the figure and looks set to retract the
assertion an embarrassing climbdown and blow to its credibility as the
reliable authority on global climate science
am not an astrologer would not say by or the glacier mass will
disappear hasnain said in comments broadcast on india ndtv television
channel on wednesday
said in the next to years the glaciers will lose mass didn say
they would vanish or that they would be confined to two kilometres or half
kilometre they the magazine assigned number to it he said
there is no evidence that the claim was published in peer reviewed
journal cornerstone of scientific credibility
in the interview with new scientist available on the internet the
magazine quotes hasnain as saying the himalayan glaciers are retreating and
says his research indicates they could disappear by
hasnain is now glaciologist with the new delhi based the energy and resources
institute which is headed by ipcc chairman rajendra pachauri
radical yemeni american cleric says he will not surrender
sanaa jan afp
fugitive radical us yemeni imam anwar al awlaqi who might be linked to the
botched christmas day al qaeda attack on us airliner has said he has no
intention of surrendering to yemeni authorities
abdullah shaea yemeni journalist close to awlaqi told afp on wednesday that
the cleric had made that declaration to him recently and had also denied yemeni
government claims that negotiations were underway aiming at surrender
anwar al awlaqi told me that no one contacted him and that nothing has been
negotiated he has no intention of giving himself up
shaea is considered in yemen to be one of the country most knowledgeable
journalists on al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
anwar is at home protected by his tribe shaea said without indicating
precisely where the police and the army know that it is impossible to go and
look for him there
he is probably under the protection of al qaeda members not because he is
member but because they are from the same tribe
he has absolutely no confidence in government that jailed him in without
any charges and freed him after year and half without ever trying him
white house aide has directly accused awlaqi of having links with the man
suspected of shooting dead people at texas military base in november major
nidal hasan
us homeland security and counterterrorism adviser john brennan has also said the
us born imam might have had contact with the man who allegedly attempted to blow
up us airliner on christmas day umar farouk abdulmutallab
born in the us state of new mexico in awlaqi went to yemen when his family
returned home in where he attended school he returned to america in
for his studies graduating from colorado state university in civil engineering
in he returned to yemen and was arrested few months after his arrival for
his role in kidnapping the son of rich yemeni family and demanding ransom
money to finance al qaeda yemeni security sources said
he was set free in after the intervention of yemeni officials on condition
that he stayed in the capital and reported to police daily
but several months after his release he left sanaa for the eastern region of
shabwa where he hid in his grandfather house security sources said
it was not until after the fort hood shooting rampage that yemeni police renewed
their search for him
philippines reports third haiti quake death
manila jan afp
rescuers have found the body of filipino soldier at the collapsed un
headquarters in haiti raising the philippines death toll from the earthquake
there to three the military said wednesday
the body of sergeant eustacio bermudez was found at the ruins of the christopher
hotel building on tuesday night haitian time military spokesman lieutenant
colonel romeo brawner said in statement
bermudez had been working as clerk at the un peacekeeping mission in haiti
second soldier and civilian un worker from the philippines were earlier
found dead at the same site
brawner said one other filipino peacekeeper assigned at the un building remained
missing the philippine government also lists two filipina women missing from
collapsed port au prince supermarket where they were working
there were more than filipinos in haiti including soldiers and police
assigned with the un peacekeeping force when massive quake hit the country on
january
the haitian government said people had been killed with another
injured and more than million left homeless
tennis ruthless rafa fighting fit
melbourne jan afp
ruthless defending champion rafael nadal declared himself back to full fitness
as he steamed into the australian open third round wednesday
the world number two battled knee problems for much of and there were
question marks over his ability to win here especially after being beaten by
nikolay davydenko in doha in his first tournament of the year
but there were no signs the spaniard was hampered as he moved freely on the way
to dominant rout of slovak republic lukas lacko in one hour
and minutes
speaking after the win nadal said he was not concerned by media speculation
about either his form or fitness
am very good don have any problem he said
sure everybody can talk but still working as much as can to be in the
top
there is lot of very good players but always do all in my power and nobody
can ask me for more than when do all what can do
it was the first time the pair had played each other and the th ranked lacko
had no answer to the consistency of nadal who hit only two more winners but
made just unforced errors compared to his opponent
having already beaten australian peter luczak in the opening round nadal
imposed himself on the match immediately conceding just eight points in taking
the first five games in quick time and lacko was never able to recover
the second seed was pleased with his form
think played serious match he said think played the match that
needed to play
was playing moving well in the beginning without mistakes having control of
the ball it was very good match for me
the popular nadal said his form against lacko was step up on his win over
luczak
played more relaxed he said
second round always is easier to play you are more adapted to the conditions
and everything think improved little bit
hampered by tendinitis in both knees nadal relinquished his hold on the french
open last year failing to make another grand slam final after the australian
open
he didn defend his wimbledon title because of injury and also lost his
grip on the number one ranking which returned to roger federer in july
however nadal said his main goal was winning more titles rather than reclaiming
world number one
my real goal right now is just try to be competitive in every tournament that
play and feel when go on court can win against everybody he said
if you talk to me about the ranking was for the last five years top two all
those weeks
so be number two four or five doesn affect me lot
the only thing is be competitive to win titles
nadal will face german th seed philipp kohlschreiber in the third round
further into the tournamenet he faces potential quarter final against either
scottish world number five andy murray or the th seeded frenchman gael
monfils
alert
france public deficit percent percent originally forecast
minister
vietnam dissidents on trial
ho chi minh city jan afp
group of democracy activists went on trial in vietnam wednesday facing
possible death sentences on charges of trying to overthrow the communist regime
in case which has sparked global concern
french trained computer expert and blogger nguyen tien trung human rights
lawyer le cong dinh and internet entrepreneur tran huynh duy thuc are
charged with activities aimed at subverting the people administration
according to the indictment
the charges carry minimum penalty of years in prison and maximum of
death
it is the most high profile case in series of arrests and convictions of
dissidents and bloggers in the communist country over the past year
fourth man on trial le thang long is accused of being an accomplice he
faces five to years in prison if convicted
this is an extremely serious case said the indictment it is prejudicial to
national security
it accused the men of an organised non violent campaign in collusion with
reactionary vietnamese in exile and hostile forces to overturn the government
with the help of the internet
they broadly disseminated information to distort reality and make people
disbelieve party and state leadership the charge said
all except long were accused of having links to the banned democratic party of
vietnam dpv which dinh testified wants to establish multiparty system and
calls for pluralism
what did violated the law he said
the dpv has its roots in the communist party it was dissolved in the but
revived in by hoang minh chinh former communist official turned
dissident who died in
according to the charge the dpv seeks to overthrow the government
trung also testified that he violated the law and had been immature
he and the others are accused of preparing dozens of anti state documents and
blogs
thuc foresaw the elimination of the communist party by dinh drafted new
constitution while trung together with students in france established
democratic youth movement the indictment said
long testified that he and thuc were part of group that discussed socio
economic issues and ways to develop the country
long who admitted writing articles and sending them to foreign radio service
said think my discussion is natural and it within my citizen rights
neither relatives of the accused nor foreign journalists and diplomats were
allowed into the trial they watched via closed circuit television in separate
rooms
dozens of uniformed police surrounded the people court complex in central ho
chi minh city the former saigon where the defendants were arrested between may
and july last year
analysts said the arrests were part of long running crackdown and reflected
the one party state sensitivity to perceived foreign enemies
dinh arrest in particular sparked concern in europe and the united states
and among global association of lawyers human rights watchdogs and press
freedom groups around the world
their real crime in the eyes of the authorities was to have requested more
freedoms said global press freedom watchdog reporters without borders
us consul general kenneth fairfax who monitored the trial said the case
related to exercise of free speech and called for their release
bankrupt japan airlines scrambles to reassure passengers
tokyo jan afp
japan airlines sought to reassure the travelling public wednesday that it will
keep flying despite declaring bankruptcy as its share price dropped to new
record low of just two us cents
the debt laden carrier apologised in full page newspaper advertisements for
causing tremendous worries to customers and promised that jal will keep
flying and that passengers air miles will remain valid
please be reassured and use us as before the company pleaded
the once iconic airline symbol of japan rise to prosperity filed for
bankruptcy protection tuesday with billion dollars in debt in the country
biggest post war corporate failure outside the financial sector
it is set to undergo painful overhaul under new corporate chief with more
than jobs to be cut reducing the workforce by third and many loss
making routes expected to be slashed
jal which carries more than million passengers year is set to receive
almost billion dollars in public funds and emergency loans under three year
turnaround plan
cabin crew have changed their inflight announcements now promising passengers
that the airline is striving for an early revival
we ask for your continued patronage of the jal group cabin attendant said
in choked voice as she rehearsed the announcement before television cameras at
meeting at tokyo haneda airport
the tokyo stock exchange will delist jal shares by february move expected
to wipe out shareholders investments
jal shares closed at new record low of two yen two us cents down three yen
or percent from tuesday the price could theoretically fall to rock bottom
one yen
there are still people who are trading jal including those who are enjoying
one month game with the downside risk limited to one yen said hideyuki
higashi strategist at smbc friend securities
the company has made no announcement regarding its tie up talks with american
and delta air lines which are in bidding war for slice of the carrier
eyeing its lucrative asian landing slots
jal is understood to prefer switching its alliance from the american airlines
led oneworld grouping to skyteam with delta but it is expected to take some
time for jal and delta to clear anti trust hurdles
the government has tapped kazuo inamori year old entrepreneur and ordained
buddhist monk to run the stricken airline during its overhaul replacing haruka
nishimatsu who resigned as president tuesday
jal woes analysts said are the result of years of bad management high costs
stretching back to its days as state owned flag carrier as well as government
pressure to service unprofitable routes to small domestic airports
jal was also hit particularly hard by the global economic downturn because it
has bigger network of overseas flights than its smaller rival all nippon
airways which was supported by relatively stable demand on domestic routes
shinsei securities credit analyst yasuhiro matsumoto said jal turn around plan
involves getting rid of money losing businesses to return to profit and is not
based on unfounded optimism that travel demand will grow in the future
however he said the government still has no growth strategy it doesn have
strategy on how jal should design its international network
the bankruptcy shocking to many japanese dominated newspaper front pages
the nikkei business daily said debt ridden jal failure should serve as
warning to other companies and the government in country where the public debt
now stands at about per cent of gross domestic product
if you shun the pain that is ahead of you greater pain will come someday the
nikkei warned the fall of jal which shone in the past sends this message to
the state and companies
china says coal mine deaths fall in
beijing jan afp
the number of workers who died in china notoriously dangerous coal mines
dropped in because of improved safety measures state media said wednesday
total of miners about seven day were killed last year down by
from xinhua news agency said citing the state administration of coal
mine safety
the number of mining accidents also fell by to it said
administration director zhao tiechui earlier this month attributed the decline
to improved safety standards but reiterated that the road to safer mines would
continue to be difficult
accidents in small scale coal mines accounted for percent of the fatalities
last year zhao said adding that the government would pursue efforts to shut
down such operations this year
small mines produce about percent of the nation coal he said
fatalities at china coal mines peaked in when deaths were recorded
sparking efforts by the government to boost safety standards
china total coal production rose from just over one billion tonnes in to
billion tonnes last year zhao said the fossil fuel produces about
percent of the booming nation energy
as part of its campaign to increase safety standards the government has levied
heavy fines and implemented region wide mining shutdowns following serious
accidents
but the action has resulted in the under reporting of accidents as mine bosses
seek to limit their economic losses labour rights groups maintain
other safety measures include modernising ventilation and gas detection systems
and improving evacuation procedures
authorities have also beefed up safety inspection requirements and imposed
stricter standards for mine closures government inspectors have focused on
getting more input from miners about the situation in the pit rather than
relying on management
cricket pakistan grab spot in world cup quarters
wellington jan afp
pakistan squeaked past bangladesh on the second last ball wednesday to go
through to the quarter finals of the under cricket world cup in palmerston
north
the group clash was the key to settling the final two spots in the weekend
quarter finals with the four wicket victory ensuring pakistan won the group and
second placed west indies also qualified
bangladesh scored but it was not quite enough with pakistan scrambling to
victory on the second last ball of their overs after year old opening
batsman muhammad babar top scored with
in the battle of the group heavyweights in queenstown south africa beat
australia in another nail biter reaching their target with only two balls
remaining
australia scored with jason flores hitting and alex keath before
dominic hendricks led the south african charge with
south africa reached to clinch their place at the top of the pool ahead
of the quarter finals
hosts new zealand took top spot in group after beating closest rivals sri
lanka by seven wickets in christchurch
sri lanka scored all out in their overs with danishka gunathilleke
topscoring with and tim johnston and logan van beek each taking three wickets
for new zealand
the hosts reached the target with nearly seven overs in hand as opening batsman
harry boam held the innings together with an unbeaten
in the tournament final pool match thursday world cup holder india and
england will battle for top spot in group
tennis australian open results day three th update
melbourne jan afp
results from day three of the australian open at melbourne park here wednesday
denotes seeding
men singles
nd round
fernando gonzalez chi bt marsel ilhan tur
andy roddick usa bt thomaz bellucci bra
evgeny korolev kaz bt tomas berdych cze
rafael nadal esp bt lukas lacko svk
feliciano lopez esp bt rainer schuettler ger
stanislas wawrinka sui bt igor kunitysn rus
john isner usa bt louk sorenson irl
philipp kohlschreiber ger bt wayne odesnik usa
ivan ljubicic cro bt andrey golubev kaz
women singles
st round
li na chn bt marina erakovic nzl
vera zvonareva rus bt kristina kucova svk
victoria azarenka blr bt stephanie cohen aloro fra
agnes szavay hun bt stephanie dubois can
iveta benesova cze bt chang kai chen tpe
yaroslava shvedova kaz bt kimiko date krumm jpn
caroline wozniacki den bt aleksandra wozniak can
tsvetana pironkova bul bt galina voskoboeva kaz
julia goerges ger bt tamira paszek aut
tathiana garbin ita bt elena vesnina rus
shahar peer isr bt lucie hradecka cze
sofia arvidsson swe bt jarmila groth aus
daniela hantuchova svk bt viktoriya kutuzova ukr
stefanie voegele sui bt melinda czink hun
nd round
svetlana kuznetsova rus bt anastasia pavlyuchenkova rus
elena baltacha gbr bt kateryna bondarenko ukr
kim clijsters bel bt tamarine tanasugarn tha
marion bartoli fra bt sandra zahlavova cze
zheng jie chn bt maria jose martinez sanchez esp
nadia petrova rus bt kaia kanepi est
yanina wickmayer bel bt flavia pennetta ita
maria kirilenko rus bt yvonne meusburger aut
angelique kerber ger bt aravane rezai fra
sara errani ita bt ekaterina makarova rus
alona bondarenko ukr bt polona hercog slo
dinara safina rus bt barbora zahlavova strycova cze
alisa kleybanova rus bt sorana cirstea rom
tennis roddick urges revamp of davis cup
melbourne jan afp
andy roddick on wednesday urged the international tennis federation itf to
consider scaling back the davis cup after pulling out of the united states team
duty for this year series
roddick who advanced to the third round of the australian open after beating
brazilian thomaz bellucci said he would miss the davis cup after nine
years to avoid causing further damage to knee he injured last year
the future of the traditional davis cup team competition is under threat with
players complaining about the time obligations they have to sacrifice during the
season
we ve been talking about adjustments for long time roddick said
bottom line is until the itf steps up and actually says you know what this
might be better for our event until they see it that way then it really
moot point it not going to happen that way
revolutionary plan surfaced this month for world cup of tennis nations
playing once every two years which could signal the end of the year old
davis cup
roddick said streamlined davis cup format would offer benefits for players and
fans
it would be lot easier think could definitely see the benefits of it as
far as players and from fan perspective he said
think one of the reasons that the golf ryder cup is so successful is
because you have little bit of time to build up to it and it is unique
but on the other side of the coin certainly understand that lot of the
smaller countries support their tennis federations with home davis cup ties
there are certainly arguments to be made either way it not an easy call
roddick said he would miss not being part of the davis cup this year with the
usa taking on serbia on clay in belgrade in the opening round from march
ll miss it for sure it been big part of my career so far don know
if ve shut the door on as far as forever goes he said
he said he made the decision to bypass the davis cup late last year
that when my knee was still hurt didn think it was smart to be switching
surfaces from hard to clay to hard time zones and all that he said
probably wanted to do that as few times in the year as we had to that played
big part in the decision
death toll in ukraine hospital blast up to officials
kiev jan afp
the death toll in the partial collapse of ukrainian hospital rose to people
wednesday as rescue workers pulled the last victims from the rubble officials
said
as result of the rescue work four people were saved from beneath the rubble
and the bodies of people were found all victims have been identified
ukraine emergency services spokesman igor krol said in statement
he said rescue work was ended at gmt two days after the explosion of
oxygen canisters in the intensive care unit of lugansk hospital number seven
caused the buildings partial collapse on monday
the blast left gaping hole in the wall of the hospital in the eastern city of
lugansk kilometres miles east of kiev
lax adherence to safety rules makes such disasters relatively frequent in
ukraine and the former soviet union
in december people were killed after an oxygen canister explosion
partially destroyed an apartment block in the ukrainian black sea town of
yevpatoria
nepal court blocks cash for widows scheme
kathmandu jan afp
nepal highest court said wednesday it had blocked government plan to give
money to widows to make them more attractive to future husbands after women
rights groups complained it was sexist
the government announced last year it would introduce rupee
dollar grant for marriages involving widowed women who are frequently
ostracised by traditional communities in nepal
the government intended the payments to go to the widows but campaigners
expressed concern that the scheme could encourage men to marry widows and then
abandon them after taking the money
the court on tuesday directed the government not to implement the decision to
provide cash incentives for the remarrying of widows supreme court spokesman
hemanta rawal told afp
the government scheme would not support healthy marriages in our society by
offering cash to widows for remarriage the government is effectively promoting
the dowry system
hundreds of women took to the streets of kathmandu last year to protest after
the government announced the scheme in its annual budget
they called for the money to be spent instead on improving access to education
and healthcare for widows and their children
indonesian minister warns of job losses over trade pact
jakarta jan afp
indonesian economic ministers appeared split wednesday over the impact of
regional free trade deal with china as lawmakers sought answers over possible
