the tokyo stock exchange next generation trading platform called arrowhead
can process orders in seconds much faster than the previous technology
and on par with the systems in new york and london
singapore announced its economy shrank percent in the fourth quarter
compared with the previous three months however the drop was not as big as
expected and gross domestic product actually rose percent year on year
the data was largely ignored by the city state stock market which was
percent lower in early afternoon trade due to profit taking after hitting
month high last week
oil jumped above dollars barrel after russia cut its supplies to neighbour
belarus due to row over tariffs
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
rose cents to dollars barrel while brent north sea crude added
cents to dollars
gold opened lower in hong kong trading at us dollars an
ounce compared to thursday close of dollars
seoul kospi rose percent to taipei ended up percent at
while manila closed down percent at
wellington was closed for holiday
alert
novartis says buys additional percent stake in alcon from nestle
australia condemns indian murder as delhi warns on ties
melbourne jan afp
australia on monday unreservedly condemned the murder of an indian national as
new delhi angrily slammed the attack and warned it could hurt bilateral ties
deputy prime minister julia gillard stressed that australia welcomed foreign
students after accounting graduate nitin garg was stabbed by unknown
attackers saturday night before collapsing in the melbourne burger restaurant
where he worked
indian students have been hit by hundreds of alleged race attacks prompting
street protests last year and damaging australia lucrative international
education industry
obviously unreservedly condemn this attack gillard said people in
melbourne west people around the nation think they will be joining
together to say we unreservedly condemn this violence
she was speaking after india decried the murder as crime on humanity and
said it would certainly affect ties between the two countries
this heinous crime on humanity this is an uncivilised brutal attack on
innocent indians indian foreign minister krishna told reporters
it certainly will have some bearing on the bilateral ties between our two
countries he added
police have said there is no evidence the murder was racially motivated but
also told afp that people of indian descent were crime victims in victoria
state in the months to july
gautam gupta president of the federation of indian students of australia said
many more attacks went unreported and questioned why police were playing down
race as factor
if they have not caught the criminal how can they eliminate racism as being
behind this attack gupta told afp what were they expecting to find on the
scene business card saying am racist
according to his housemate parminder singh garg understood to be from punjab
in northern india had been targeted by drunken louts at train station in an
earlier incident
they were just drunk and they wanted to find anyone to beat singh said
if they find someone alone they just beat them because they know nothing is
going to happen after that what will happen police will not do anything
prime minister kevin rudd gillard and victoria premier john brumby have all
visited india recently to ease frictions and promote the billion us dollar
foreign education export industry australia fourth largest export earner
australia has forecast percent drop in students from india next year after
earlier attacks prompted barrage of negative publicity in the country
each allegedly racial attack sparks outrage on india passionate tv news
channels amid rising concern from families and friends of students studying in
the country that was previously seen as safe and even glamorous destination
following garg death india mail today tabloid splashed the headline racist
aussie gang knifes indian to death across its front page as it slammed
australian police for failing to protect indian students from hate gangs
but deputy police commissioner kieran walshe said victoria had large indian
population and he did not believe the community was being singled out
don believe that there has been any really detailed rascist motives around
assaults on indian people in the past he told reporters
in some cases there may well be but in the general sense of it lot it we ve
seen has been around opportunistic theft
australia attracted some indian students in the year to october about
percent of foreign enrolments as universities and colleges actively target
the country growing middle class
australia education sector has also been tarnished by series of visa scams
involving agents who exploit foreign students
indian police probe suicide of girl reality show star
mumbai jan afp
an year old indian girl who had appeared on television reality shows
apparently committed suicide after her parents withdrew her from dance school
local media reported monday
police were called to flat in the eastern suburbs of mumbai on saturday after
neha sawant was found hanging by dupatta or scarf inside locked room the
mumbai mirror said
the child described as an amazing dancer and who had performed on three
television talent shows was taken to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival
senior police inspector subhash divekar leading the investigation said there
was no question of foul play as the door was locked from the inside
it is indeed case of suicide we are still investigating as to why she took
the drastic step we haven found any suicide note from the spot yet he was
quoted as saying
neha father told the daily tabloid that he and his wife had pulled their
daughter out of dance academy several months ago because they thought her
constant performing was affecting her schoolwork
she showed no signs of wanting to take her own life he added
television reality and talent shows have become popular on india cable and
satellite channels with many copying successful formats from countries like
britain and the united states
but psychologists have warned that exposing youngsters to the limelight too soon
can have negative effect on their enjoyment of childhood with harsh criticism
from judges leading to self image problems
the national commission for protection of child rights has also expressed
concern that young participants were often working more than hours day
calling for better regulation and ban on contestants aged under
thai inflation up for third month running commerce ministry
bangkok jan afp
thailand consumer prices rose in december for the third month running
signalling the country return to normal growth in inflation the commerce
ministry said monday
consumer prices rose percent year on year in december after percent
increase in november and percent gain in october the ministry permanent
secretary yanyong phuangrach said
the third rise of inflation from october to december showed that the fourth
quarter data will return to normal growth situation he told reporters
attributing the rise partly to hike in oil prices in the second half of
he said figures for the fourth quarter which will be released in february were
expected to show three percent rise
the ministry also forecast inflation in to rise between and
percent the projection was dependent on oil prices staying between and
dollars and the dollar ranging between and thai baht
the core consumer price index which excludes volatile energy and food costs
rose percent in december from year earlier
japanese stocks end at month high
tokyo jan afp
japanese stocks closed monday at month high as investors cheered weaker
yen and the government plan to expand credit line to troubled japan
airlines
the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei index gained points or
percent to the best finish since early october
the broader topix index of all first section shares climbed points or
percent to
the mood on the first day of trading this year is good kenji shiomura market
analyst at daiwa securities told dow jones newswires
japan airlines jal shares soared by more than percent after the government
on sunday agreed to double state funded loan to the cash strapped carrier to
billion yen billion dollars
the tokyo stock exchange introduced new faster trading system on monday
stepping up its efforts to stay ahead of rival asian bourses following series
of technical problems in recent years
dollar drops against yen in asia as exporters sell
tokyo jan afp
the dollar slipped against the yen in asia on monday weighed down by exporter
selling but its overall tone remained firm thanks to optimism about prospects
for the us economy dealers said
the dollar eased to yen in the tokyo afternoon trade down from in
new york late on thursday before the new year holiday
the euro fell to dollars from dollars and to yen from
the dollar softened against the yen after japanese exporters sold the greenback
to settle their accounts after the holiday break shinkin central bank senior
dealer shinichi hayashi told dow jones newswires
the dollar outlook remained positive however on solid hopes for us economic
recovery he said
the greenback had ended on an upbeat note in the wake of government data
indicating that new us claims for jobless benefits fell to the lowest level
since july
the seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in
the week ending december stood at decrease of from the
previous week revised figure of the us labor department said
the dollar will remain upbeat for while even if not sharply higher as
domestic exporters are selling the currency said masatsugu miyata foreign
exchange dealer at hachijuni bank
wouldn be surprised to see the dollar test higher level ahead of the
upcoming economic data in the united states he said
market players will closely watch us economic reports on manufacturing activity
and december unemployment slated for release this week dealers said
think the us jobless data will improve and send the dollar higher miyata
said
the us jobless rate stood at percent in november down from percent in
october
the dollar was softer against most asian currencies falling to south
korean won from on thursday to thai baht from and to
indonesian rupiah from
it declined to taiwan dollars from and to singapore dollars
from but rose to philippine pesos from
tennis ivanovic survives scare against dokic
brisbane australia jan afp
third seed ana ivanovic survived big scare against australia jelena dokic to
move into the second round of the brisbane international monday
ivanovic claimed tight first set suffered huge lapse of concentration in
the second then regained her composure in the third to win in
front of large crowd seemingly unsure as to who to support
former world number one ivanovic is using the brisbane tournament as stepping
stone in her bid to regain her place in the sport elite following poor
marred by injury and loss of form
she said she started nervously but was happy with her form thereafter
had really good preparation and that gave me lot of confidence she
said
thought was serving lot better and moving better since the last match
played which has been while
in the second set thought lost bit of intensity and started defending
more and stepped back but then coach sven groeneveld pointed out had to
step up little more and tried to do that and dominate was really
pleased with the result
after gruelling physical conditioning programme in last year off season
ivanovic completely changed her preparation leading into this australian summer
and said she was reaping the rewards
it my goal to get back to the top and play the championship at the end of
the year she said
last year was tough year but learned lot from it and think it helped
me lot to be mentally stronger and to know more what want and not take
anything for granted
this has made me appreciate it more and realise have to work hard for every
match and not just expect it to come
she will now play timea bacsinszky in the second round following the swiss
player win over russian qualifier alla kudryavtseva
oil passes dollars as russia cuts oil supply to belarus
singapore jan afp
oil prices hurdled dollars barrel on the first trading day of the year
monday after russia cut crude supplies to belarus analysts said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
rose cents to dollars barrel in the afternoon
brent north sea crude for february delivery gained cents to dollars
crude prices rose on concerns over the implications of russia move which has
been effective since new year eve analysts said
oil is up reacting primarily to russia stopping oil supplies to belarus
said victor shum senior principal of purvin and gertz energy consultants in
singapore
that is the dominant factor and has added some momentum to oil
media reports said russia had stopped supplies to belarus from december
with ongoing negotiations to restart deliveries hampered by tariff
disagreements
the incident is the latest in the energy dispute between the two nations over
tariff arrangements moscow also severed supplies to belarus in january
following similar row
an analyst quoted by the financial times said the pipeline through belarus
supplied up to barrels of oil products day to germany and poland
however oil exports to europe were still flowing despite the russian move with
refineries in belarus holding week worth of stockpiles media reports said
tennis brisbane international results first update
brisbane australia jan afp
results from the second day of the brisbane international tennis tournament on
monday denotes seed
first round
men
richard gasquet fra bt jarkko nieminen fin
marc gicquel fra bt philipp petzschner ger
wayne odesnik usa bt arnaud clement fra
women
roberta vinci ita bt sara errani ita
timea bacsinszky sui bt alla kudryavtseva rus
ana ivanovic srb bt jelena dokic aus
sesil karatantcheva kaz bt casey dellacqua aus
lucie safarova cze bt anna lena groenefeld ger
nepal court blocks army officer promotion
kathmandu jan afp
nepal highest court has blocked the promotion of senior army officer
implicated in rights abuses against maoist rebels during the country civil
war an official said monday
the government announced last month it was appointing toran jung bahadur singh
to the rank of lieutenant general second highest post in the army despite
strong opposition from rights groups and the opposition maoist party
but the supreme court on sunday ordered singh promotion to be halted after
group of maoist supporters filed writ saying the move went against the spirit
of the peace agreement ending the decade long conflict
the court on sunday ordered the government not to implement its decision
court official hemanta rawal told afp
the court has asked the government to be present at the court on january for
the hearing of the case
singh was in charge of military camp where maoists disappeared in and
during the civil war
in the un office of the high commissioner for human rights in nepal
ohchr released report accusing his battalion of arbitrary detention torture
and disappearance of the former rebels
although singh was not directly involved in the disappearances the ohchr held
him accountable as he was in charge of the camp the army has made no comment on
the accusations
at least people died in nepal decade long bloody civil war between
maoist rebels and the state which ended in
there are allegations of killings and torture on both sides and rights groups
say little has been done to bring justice to victims and their families
the ohchr has opposed singh promotion which it said would undermine any
effort by the government to seek redress for abuses committed during the civil
war
corrected afghan parliament taking baby steps to maturity
kabul jan afp
afghanistan infant parliament has taken steps towards maturity on the war torn
country path to democracy with its rejection of most of president hamid
karzai cabinet nominees experts said
in country better known for centuries of war poverty and corruption the
emergence of functioning parliament has shone light on afghan aspirations
for self determination
parliament defiance in the secret ballot on karzai cabinet picks has also
brought hope that at least one of the three institutional pillars
legislative judicial and administrative takes its task seriously
think the structure of the parliament itself is success mp shukria
barakzai told afp
being formed of warlords communists and former taliban people from all
sorts of ethnic and political backgrounds is success
people who fought each other with rockets and shells are now working under the
same ceiling despite sometimes throwing water bottles at each other she said
referring to the often fiery debates
that spirit was on display saturday during the vote count which showed the
mps who attended firmly knocking down of karzai nominees
even the seven who were approved hardly won with resounding confidence barely
winning more than the votes or percent plus one needed
observers noted mps appeared to reject nominees they feared might have
represented vested interests or had ulterior motives
those nominees who were introduced by warlords were not approved as well as
those who were thinking that being in government is like being in business
they had their faces slapped barakzai said
karzai has long relied on warlords to prop up his fragile government and his
cabinet choices were seen as test of his commitment to clean government for
the country rated the world second most corrupt
while his wishlist did not appear stacked with cronies those voted down
included warlord ismail khan whose nomination as water and energy minister was
seen as reward for supporting karzai in the election
those approved were defence agriculture interior finance education culture
and mines and industries most of whom had the backing of karzai western
supporters
karzai had wanted to finalise his cabinet before an international conference in
london on january to discuss the future of the country
while the un special representative to afghanistan kai eide called the result
political setback as it prolongs political stasis he acknowledged it was
good news for the development of democracy
there positive aspect that proves that the institution functions that
parliament has made full use of its authority on the constitution he told
reporters on sunday
it must be respected it certainly not the kind of rubber stamping parliament
that we see in other countries the parliament has taken its responsibility and
made full use of it he said
the parliament elected in is comprised of two chambers the powerful
seat lower house wolesi jirga or house of the people and the largely
symbolic seat upper house mishrano jirga house of the elders
the constitution guarantees women mps although two are known to have left
for asylum in europe and third woman was fired for making statements in the
chamber against war criminals
the legislature had not until now been regarded as balance on administrative
power allowing karzai government to achieve its goals without threatening the
foundations of the state
getting here has been rough road and some decisions have damaged its
reputation including the law passed in its first year giving amnesty to
warlords and former militia leaders
analysts say its development is hampered by afghanistan lack of political
party system leaving most mps operating as independents
the parliament is fragmented the mps vote on their own assessment there are
no political parties behind them said haroun mir director of afghanistan
centre for research and policy
accusations that mps take their jobs too lightly are tempered by the fact that
have been killed six in alone mostly in taliban attacks
think in general we have been doing well we have done our share in building
up democracy barakzai said
rugbyu aru relax foreign player quota for melbourne team
sydney jan afp
the new melbourne team will be allowed up to overseas players in its
inaugural roster for next year super rugby season under new player concessions
announced by the australian rugby union on monday
the aru board has eased its existing foreign player policy so the fifth
australian team can be competitive for the season spokesman said
previously australian provinces were allowed only two overseas players in their
respective squads
they allowed for one marquee signing who has already qualified for another
nation and development player who could qualify for australian selection
under the international rugby board three year residency regulation
the aru said to ensure melbourne had competitive squad for its inaugural year
in revamped team super rugby competition and to provide level of
protection for the current australian super rugby teams its board had decided
to relax its foreign player policy for the fledgling franchise
melbourne will have the right to contract two overseas players as per the
conditions of the existing foreign player policy covering all australian teams
in super rugby the spokesman said
however the melbourne foreign player concession will also allow the new super
rugby team to sign further eight foreign players
the aru said all eight players could be overseas internationals who would not be
eligible to play for australia along with overseas development players
the spokesman said the new concession would be gradually rolled back so that by
melbourne would have the same number of overseas players as the other four
australian teams nsw waratahs queensland reds act brumbies and western force
it is important to ensure melbourne can recruit team that is competitive from
day one aru managing director john neill said
the concessions we have put in place provide melbourne with every opportunity
for immediate success while also ensuring there is ongoing sustainability
moving forward
melbourne beat off the southern kings from south africa in november to take
their place in an expanded super competition in following an arbitration
panel review
afp graphics advisory
hong kong jan afp
monday graphics
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solomons quake
map locating the epicentre of magnitude quake that struck near the solomon
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fact file on the burj dubai the world tallest tower which opens on monday
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asia pacific markets
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australia floods declared natural disaster
sydney jan afp
australian authorities declared natural disaster monday in southeastern
farming town where raging floodwaters forced the evacuation of hundreds of
people
the swollen castlereagh river peaked at metres feet just before midday
gmt in coonamble the weather bureau said after residents in the
new south wales town were urged to leave their homes for higher ground
forecasters had feared the river would surge to year record of metres
and break its banks putting hundreds of homes in the town at risk
but the threat eased late in the morning when it appeared water levels had gone
down slightly the bureau of meteorology said in statement
this indicates that the river is at its peak with major flooding it said
heavy rains have pelted the drought parched region since late december with
hundreds of centimetres of rain unleashed by ex tropical cyclone laurence
several towns have already been cut off by the once in decade deluge but no
lives have been lost
new south wales premier kristina keneally declared the town natural disaster
zone making emergency funds available to hundreds of farmers and other
residents
flooding rains were also recorded further north in the neighbouring state of
queensland while fires raged in the country west
an out of control blaze at brigadoon on the outskirts of perth razed sheds and
damaged some buildings but no homes were lost while severe fire warnings were
in place for much of the state of western australia authorities said
the state worst wildfire in years devastated the isolated rural community
of toodyay last week levelling homes and destroying thousands of hectares
acres of scrub and farmland
it follows last february black saturday fires in which australians died
and more than homes were flattened the country worst natural disaster
of modern times
nba lakers can miss in rout of mavericks
los angeles jan afp
seven lakers players scored in double figures sunday as nba champions los
angeles routed western conference rivals dallas
jordan farmer led the lakers with points while andrew bynum added on of
shooting with five rebounds and four assists
kobe bryant and lamar odom chipped in points apiece odom adding rebounds
and bryant eight assists while sasha vujacic and shannon brown each scored
and derek fisher added as the lakers shot percent from the field
the lakers victory over the second best team in the western conference marked
the biggest margin of victory ever between the two teams surpassing the lakers
point victory on december
and it marked change from the lakers recent run of cliff hangers including
victory over sacramento on friday courtesy of bryant buzzer beating
three pointer
dirk nowitzki had points and eight rebounds for the mavericks who otherwise
endured woeful shooting night jason kidd epitomized their problems going
scoreless in minutes
one dark spot for the lakers was an injury to pau gasol who strained his left
hamstring seven minutes into the first quarter he didn return to the game and
was expected to have further tests on monday
japan pm vows to avoid double dip recession
tokyo jan afp
japanese prime minister yukio hatoyama said monday he would strive to prevent
return to recession in the world second largest economy by pushing ahead with
planned stimulus spending package
the economy should not enter double dip recession and we won let it
happen said hatoyama who took office in september
in televised new year address he urged parliament to swiftly pass an extra
budget to finance the planned spending aimed at supporting fragile economic
recovery after the worst downturn in decades
hatoyama announced in early december stimulus package including about
billion dollars in fresh spending
the pump priming measures include incentives for people to buy energy saving
products as well as financial support for smaller firms and payments to
struggling companies to keep staff on their payrolls
the ruling coalition which dominates parliament aims to have the budget passed
by the end of january so that it can concentrate on deliberations on record
trillion dollar budget for the next financial year starting in april
want to make my utmost effort to pass it as quickly as possible hatoyama
added
japan economy returned to growth in the second quarter of after severe
year long recession but renewed deflation and weak domestic demand are major
concerns for policymakers
last week hatoyama unveiled an ambitious goal to create millions of jobs and
return asia biggest economy to steady growth as he battles drop in his
popularity and funding scandal
