point tuesday reducing the market value of the group to about million
dollars far less than even the cost of new jumbo jet
investors are expected to be left out of pocket if jal goes bust although tokyo
says jal will stay in the skies during the restructuring which is expected to
be similar to the process used for us auto giant general motors
the government has prepared various support measures transport minister seiji
maehara told reporters we want to help jal to recover while operating
safely he added
the government has tapped kazuo inamori year old entrepreneur and ordained
buddhist monk to run the stricken airline during its overhaul
inamori is one of japan most respected business executives and management
gurus having founded both high tech parts supplier kyocera corp and company
that later became part of kddi corp now japan number two telecoms firm
he seems to have charisma which is good thing said makoto murayama an
analyst at nomura securities
at the moment jal employees don really want to admit that they work for the
company if someone can restore their pride and lead them the chances of
recovery could increase
eyeing its lucrative asian landing slots us carriers american airlines and
delta air lines are now in bidding war for slice of jal
dutch carrier klm said on monday that talks involving air france klm and delta
on jal future were going well after reports that the japanese airline had
agreed to tie up with delta and switch to the skyteam alliance
the government was expected to announce tuesday new financial lifeline for
jal which has received series of public bailouts and lost about billion
dollars in the six months to september
jal is reportedly set to slash more than jobs while withdrawing from
unprofitable routes and selling hotels and other assets
experts say radical downsizing is long overdue at jal which has been hobbled by
high costs since its days as state owned flag carrier and is overexposed to
unprofitable domestic and overseas routes
the problem is that the government lacks clear vision on what to do with
jal international network said yasuhiro matsumoto credit analyst at
shinsei securities they are focused on assisting jal
according to japanese media the company is set to receive an injection of
government funds worth several hundred billion yen several billion dollars
under prepackaged restructuring plan that would see it file for bankruptcy
at the same time jal creditor banks are expected to be asked to forgive loans
worth several hundred billion yen
jal has been hit hard by industry turbulence unleashed by the september
terror attacks in the united states the iraq war and the global financial
crisis as well as global health scares in the past decade
indonesian prosecutor seeks death for corruption fighter
jakarta jan afp
indonesian prosecutors on tuesday requested the death sentence for former chief
corruption fighter antasari azhar who is on trial for the alleged murder of his
rival in love triangle
prosecutor cirus sinaga told the south jakarta district court azhar had
participated in the act of persuading others to carry out premeditated murder
and should be given the death sentence
the sacked corruption eradication commission kpk chief has denied any role in
the march gangland style shooting of businessman nasrudin zulkarnaen and says
he is the victim of conspiracy to discredit the commission
police allege azhar carried out the killing after zulkarnaen attempted to
blackmail him over jakarta hotel room tryst with the businessman year old
golf caddy wife
from the beginning we can see this case has been engineered confident that
antasari will be freed because there no evidence to show that he instructed
anyone to commit murder defence lawyer mohammad assegaf said
ex prosecutor azhar was arrested on may last year and has been held in police
custody for allegedly masterminding the murder
zulkarnaen was married to rhani juliani the chief prosecution witness and
golf caddy at the course both men frequented
azhar supporters say he is being framed by vested interests in bid to
cripple the anti corruption commission which has claimed number of high
profile scalps among lawmakers bankers and prosecutors
top chinese judge jailed for life for graft
beijing jan afp
chinese court sentenced former top supreme court judge to life in prison on
tuesday for taking bribes and other graft charges court official and state
media said
huang songyou is the latest top official snared in stepped up campaign against
corruption which president hu jintao has described as one of the greatest
threats to the legitimacy of communist party rule
he was sentenced today said spokesman at the langfang intermediate people
court in the northern province of hebei without giving further details
the official xinhua news agency said the year old huang the former deputy
head of the supreme court had been given life sentence his personal property
confiscated and his political rights revoked for life
huang was convicted of taking million yuan dollars in bribes from
to while serving on the supreme people court and of embezzling
million yuan in while serving on lower court in the south
he had already been thrown out of the ruling communist party and the court
ruling means he will never again be able to participate in politics or occupy
official posts
huang confessed to his crimes during the probe targeting him and most of his
ill gotten gains had already been retrieved xinhua said
huang knowingly violated the law by trading power for money and taking hefty
sum of bribes which has produced bad impact on society and should be
punished severely the report said citing the court verdict
the people daily the communist party main propaganda mouthpiece said in
commentary on its website that the ruling showed no one was exempt from the
government anti corruption drive
the langfang intermediate people court ruling on this issue states
resoundingly that courts will not tolerate corruption in the administration of
justice no matter who or at what level the cadres are it said
supreme court official said huang was the first judge ever removed from the
court for law and disciplinary violations according to xinhua
hu last week called the fight against corruption pressing task urging
increased efforts to investigate embezzlement and corruption cases
also last week china former top nuclear power official kang rixin who was
sacked in august was stripped of his party membership and referred by the party
to stand trial for abuse of power and corruption xinhua reported
an internal party investigation had found that kang former general manager of
the china national nuclear corporation cnnc had abused his authority
enabled profits for others and taken huge bribes
late last year the vice president and party chief of state owned china mobile
was stripped of his posts due to his alleged involvement in serious economic
problems
also last year li peiying the former head of the company that owns beijing
capital international airport was executed after being convicted of bribery and
embezzlement totalling nearly million dollars
the former head of oil giant sinopec chen tonghai was sentenced to death in
july after being found guilty of corrupt practices
korea starts talks with korea despite threats
seoul jan afp
south korean team started talks in north korea tuesday on joint business
project despite last week threats from pyongyang of possible attack on its
neighbour
the two sides began two days of talks to discuss ways to revitalise their
jointly operated industrial estate at kaesong just north of the border seoul
unification ministry said
today meeting will provide an opportunity to have frank discussions on the
question of developing the kaesong industrial park in stable way said
seoul chief delegate kim young tak before leaving for the estate
the two sides agreed last week on the meeting at kaesong the latest in series
of apparently conciliatory moves by the north after months of tensions
but the meeting appeared in doubt friday when the north launched verbal
broadside against the south hours after it had agreed to accept food aid from
seoul
its national defence commission the top decision making body threatened to cut
all dialogue and cooperation unless the south apologises for an alleged
contingency plan to handle regime collapse in the north
the commission also warned of holy war against the south should there be any
attempt to carry out the plan
given the north recent behaviour it seems as though it would be impossible
for even god to understand north korea policies and actions toward south
korea the joongang daily said in an editorial tuesday headlined the north
erratic behaviour
the cash strapped north has faced tighter sanctions since its nuclear and
missile tests last year it appears eager to promote economic projects with the
south despite the fiery rhetoric
last week pyongyang called for the resumption of lucrative tours by south
koreans to the north
the kaesong estate employs north koreans in south korean firms with
wages paid in dollars to state bodies and not to the workers directly
at this week talks the two sides will assess their joint tour last month of
industrial parks in china and vietnam to gain ideas about how to further develop
kaesong
tennis federer beats andreev in four sets
melbourne jan afp
swiss world number one roger federer was forced into four sets before downing
russian igor andreev to reach the second round of the
australian open on tuesday
tennis serena fires warning with first round demolition
melbourne jan afp
serena williams blitzed into the australian open second round on tuesday and
insisted she would not change the way she behaved despite playing under the
threat of grand slam suspension
the defending champion four time titalist here cruised past poland urszula
radwanska with ease
williams could be banned from future grand slams if she misbehaves again after
being hit with us dollar fine and put on two years probation for
abusing linesperson during last year us open
the world number one lost her temper during her semi final against kim clijsters
when serving at and with clijsters just two points from victory foot
fault was called against her on her second serve
the double fault gave clijsters match point causing williams to unleash
tirade of abuse at the official who called the fault which earned her point
penalty and handed victory to clijsters
don think was quiet at all she said when asked whether she was more
subdued during tuesday win because of the probation
felt like pumped my fist little bit feel like was definitely being
who could be that all can do
williams stressed she would not change her approach to her matches as she goes
in search of th grand slam title
that hasn crossed my mind at all as if yell too much it would be
problem she said
feel like can always be myself you know just do the best that can
ll say mon ll get frustrated ll still be human ll still make
mistakes ll still learn from them
williams made very few mistakes during her first round win over radwanska
playing with no sign of the left knee injury that hampered her last week in
sydney but with her right thigh heavily strapped she broke twice in the first
set and three times in the second on her way to comfortable victory
the year old said later the strapping was just precaution because of her
age
ve been having it strapped all week all last week as well making sure
able to keep moving as best as can she said
despite the lopsided scoreline williams was made to work hard for her win with
radwanska keeping the top seed on court for minutes
the scoreline seemed to be easy but it was long match out there williams
said
well not long but it was tough points so was just happy to get it over
with
the year old pole was not overawed by the occasion and tried to move williams
around the court throughout the match but the defending champion was always in
control
the nature of the victory will make williams rivals sit up and take note as the
american can be slow starter at grand slams building momentum as the
tournament progresses
while williams made unforced errors against radwanska she also hit
winners to her opponent
she is clear favourite to lift the trophy again after stellar but faces
tougher task this time with many top players making significant improvements
over the past year
williams won here in
asian markets lower ahead of us bank earnings
hong kong jan afp
investors were subdued on tuesday ahead of us bank earnings reports this week
sending asian stocks down while japan airlines sank to fresh low ahead of an
expected bankruptcy filing
with wall street closed for public holiday on monday regional markets were
given little direction forcing dealers to look ahead to number of lenders
fourth quarter reports
us giant jp morgan chase last week announced fourth quarter net earnings
quadrupled and profits doubled for the full year but the news was not as good
as had been expected by many analysts weighing on the stock on friday
while investor sentiment started with flourish mixed dose of us
corporate earnings has seen risk appetite fade little danica hampton
forex strategist at bank of new zealand told dow jones newswires
among the banks to be posting results are citigroup later tuesday while bank of
america morgan stanley and wells fargo will release on wednesday
tokyo closed down percent or points at
japan airlines shares finished flat at five yen five us cents having hit
record low of three yen earlier in the day as dealers sold up prior to an
announcement tuesday on state backed restructuring package for the airline
jal is widely expected to seek court protection from creditors and may delist
from the tokyo index
sydney fell percent or points to
financials ended percent lower while the materials sector including miners
rio tinto and bhp billiton dropped percent
the market opened the session slightly higher but by mid morning the
financials had begun to lead the sell off said ig markets analyst ben potter
hong kong was percent lower by the break while singapore dropped
percent
seoul closed flat with the index edging down points to
shanghai bucked the trend adding percent in afternoon trading helped by
banks and property developers due to easing concerns over monetary tightening
dealers said
china banking regulator said overnight it had always required banks to base
lending on real economic demand and properly manage the pace and quality of
lending signalling an attempt to defuse concerns over new loan guidelines
oil was mixed tuesday after suffering big losses at the end of last week and on
monday
new york main contract light sweet crude for february delivery was cents
higher at dollars barrel while brent north sea crude for february
delivery eased cents to dollars
the dollar slipped to yen in tokyo afternoon trade from late monday
in europe while the euro edged up to dollars from but declined to
yen from
in hong kong gold opened higher at us dollars an ounce up
from monday close of dollars
in other markets
taipei closed down percent or points at
formosa plastics fell percent to taiwan dollars and asustek was down
percent at
wellington fell percent or points to
auckland international airport fell one cent to dollars declining total
of percent since news on monday last week it would buy quarter share in
north queensland airports
manila shed or points to
telecom giant philippine long distance telephone co dropped percent to
pesos
cricket india crush bangladesh reply in first test
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
india seamers ripped through bangladesh middle order to leave the hosts on
the back foot in the fog hit first cricket test here on tuesday
bangladesh replying to india modest slumped from their overnight score
of to in the shortened morning session of the third day play
mushfiqur rahim was unbeaten on eight and mohammad mahmudullah was on with
bangladesh trailing by runs with four wickets in hand
play was delayed for the third successive day due to dense fog over this coastal
city which permitted of the stipulated overs on the first day and just
overs on the second day
bangladesh added nine runs to their overnight score when seamer ishant sharma
had former captain mohammad ashraful caught in the slips by rahul dravid for
two
bangladesh skipper shakib al hasan cracked four boundaries in his but his
aggressive intentions did not last long
the left hander attempted to glide zaheer khan over point but india stand in
captain virender sehwag jumped in the air at gully to pick up sharp chance
raqibul hasan was the third batsman to fall in the morning session edging
lifting delivery from shanthakumaran sreesanth to wicket keeper dinesh
karthik
the second and final test of the short series will start in dhaka on january
taiwan man dies after watching avatar
taipei jan afp
year old taiwanese man with history of high blood pressure has died of
stroke likely triggered by over excitement from watching the blockbuster
avatar in doctor said tuesday
the man identified only by his surname kuo started to feel unwell during the
screening earlier this month in the northern city of hsinchu and was taken to
hospital
kuo who suffered from hypertension was unconscious when he arrived at the nan
men general hospital and scan showed that his brain was haemorrhaging
emergency room doctor peng chin chih said
it likely that the over excitement from watching the movie triggered his
symptoms he told afp
kuo died day later from the brain haemorrhage and the china times newspaper
said it was the first death linked to watching james cameron science fiction
epic avatar
film blogging sites have reported complaints of headaches dizziness nausea and
blurry eyesight from viewers of avatar and other movies rich in imagery
oil prices mixed in asian trade
singapore jan afp
oil was mixed in asian trade tuesday after the energy minister of major crude
producer united arab emirates said he was comfortable with current price levels
in afternoon trade new york main contract light sweet crude for february
delivery gained cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for delivery in march eased cents to dollars
investors are buying on this weakness in prices we ve seen in the last few
days said ben westmore minerals and energy economist with national
australia bank in melbourne
investors are perceiving that the base levels are reasonably low given the
outlook for the global economy and the oil markets
the new york contract hit an intra day peak of dollars barrel last week
its highest level since october before easing
on monday united arab emirates energy minister mohammad bin dhaen al hamli said
world oil prices were very reasonable at the moment
asked if he preferred prices to be in excess of dollars barrel he told
reporters on the sidelines of four day alternative energy forum in the uae
capital don like over and don like
the uae is member of the organisation of the petroleum exporting countries
opec
at its last meeting in december the opec cartel warned of lingering weakness in
the world economy as it decided to keep crude output quotas unchanged
the international energy agency said last week that oil demand in would be
sluggish in the developed world with emerging markets accounting for any
increases
the agency left unchanged prior forecast of percent rise in global
demand this year to million barrels per day
cricket results from under world cup
wellington jan afp
results from pool play in the under world cup being played by countries in
new zealand
group
at christchurch
hong kong all out in overs ashish gadhia zakiullah zak noor
ul haq yamin ahmadzai
afghanistan in overs javed ahmadi no ashish gadhia
afghanistan won by wickets
group
at queenstown
united states all out in overs saqib saleem steven taylor ryan
corns gregory sewdial lee nelson craig young
ireland in overs paul stirling graham mcdonnell no ryan
corns
ireland won by wickets
group
at lincoln
zimbabwe all out in overs tinotenda mutombodzi tim johnston
ben wheeler bevan small doug bracewell
new zealand in overs harry boam tom latham no calum price
new zealand won by wickets
group
at palmerston north
papua new guinea all out in overs sese bau jason kila yannic
cariah yannick ottley
west indies in overs shane dowrich no kraigg brathwaite
raymond haoda
west indies won by wickets
japanese stocks end down percent
tokyo jan afp
japanese share prices closed down percent on tuesday ahead of an expected
bankruptcy filing by debt ridden japan airlines
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index declined points to
the broader topix index of all first section shares fell points
or percent to
japan airlines shares finished flat at five yen five us cents having hit
record low of three yen at one point earlier in the day
investors have dumped the stock ahead of an announcement tuesday on state
backed restructuring package for the troubled airline which is widely expected
to seek court protection from creditors and may delist its stock
overall trading was relatively subdued in the absence of lead from wall
street where markets were closed monday for the martin luther king holiday
market players want to see how wall street will move after friday drop said
kazuhiro takahashi equity information chief at daiwa securities capital
markets
investors were also awaiting slew of us earnings reports later this week
including citigroup fourth quarter numbers later on tuesday
cricket bangladesh india first test scoreboard
chittagong bangladesh jan afp
lunch scores on the third day of the first test between india and bangladesh on
tuesday
india st innings tendulkar not out sehwag shahadat hossain
shakib al hasan
bangladesh st innings overnight
tamim iqbal zaheer
imrul kayes lbw zaheer
shahriar nafees laxman sharma
mohammad ashraful dravid sharma
raqibul hasan karthik sreesanth
shakib al hasan sehwag zaheer
mushfiqur rahim not out
mohammad mahmudullah not out
extras lb nb
total for six wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes nafees iqbal ashraful
shakib raqibul
bowling zaheer sreesanth nb sharma mishra
toss bangladesh
umpires billy bowden nzl and marais erasmus rsa
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
afp graphics advisory
hong kong jan afp
we shall move the following graphics
haiti quake toll
updated death toll from the haiti earthquake
text slug haiti quake
mm
available by gmt
japan airlines chrono
graphic on historical milestones for japan airlines expected to file for
bankruptcy protection tuesday
text slug japan airline company distress jal chrono
mm
available by gmt
jal shares
chart showing daily closing values for japan airlines for the past month
text slug japan airline company distress jal
mm
available now
kabul under attack
graphic showing buildings in central kabul that were attacked by taliban
militants on monday
text slug afghanistan unrest kabul timeline
mm
available now
korea joint venture
fact file on joint venture project in north korea where south korean firm
will invest percent of the million dollar cost of food processing plant
set to employ some north korean workers
text slug skorean nkorea economy zone
mm
available by gmt
usns comfort hospital ship
graphic on the usns comfort hospital ship capable of providing full surgical and
medical service heading to quake devastated haiti this week according to the
us navy
text slug haiti quake
mm wide
available by gmt
asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
mm
available by gmt
other graphics available for haiti quake
quake epicentre map mm
port au prince map mm
quake damaged towns map mm
international aid mm
identification using dna mm
search and rescue methods mm
un mission in haiti mm
tectonic plates caribbean map mm
earthquakes world mm
country factfile mm
moved earlier
afghanistan faryab map mm
ukraine vote results mm
ukraine factfile mm
chile vote results mm
chile factfile mm
nigeria jos attacks map mm
somalia piracy map mm
golden globes winners mm
japan auto hybrid factfile mm
paris hong kong
tel
dollar weaker in asia
tokyo jan afp
the dollar was lower against the yen and the euro in asian trade on tuesday as
dealers focused on upcoming economic data and greece debt woes
the dollar slipped to yen in tokyo afternoon trade from in late
european deals on monday when us markets were closed for national holiday
the euro edged up to dollars from but declined to yen from
after slow start to the week due to the martin luther king holiday in the
united states market players were eyeing germany zew index of economic
sentiment due out on tuesday
the indicator which surveys financial experts on their outlook for europe
biggest economy is expected to have fallen to this month from in
december according to analyst forecasts
greece problems will likely lead to slight decline in the index predicted
calyon currency strategist mitul kotecha
greece ballooning debts cast long shadow over meeting of eurozone finance
ministers monday
german chancellor angela merkel last week said greece fiscal crisis put the
euro in very difficult phase
the problems faced by greece will likely cap any gains in the euro kotecha
said
investors were also waiting ahead of slew of us earnings reports later this
week after jpmorgan chase opened the earnings season for banks on strong note
last friday
citigroup will release its fourth quarter earnings on tuesday followed by bank
of america morgan stanley and wells fargo on wednesday and goldman sachs on
thursday
against asian currencies the dollar fell to south korean won from
