my thinking is that it would be preferable if the correction continues toward
weaker yen he said at his first press conference since being named to replace
outgoing hirohisa fujii
kan said he would cooperate with the central bank to steer the yen to an
appropriate level in break from his predecessor tolerance of stronger
currency
the dollar rose to yen in the wake of the remarks from around yen
shortly before kan spoke
while japan has not intervened in the currency market since march allowing
the yen to find its own level against the dollar the finance minister
comments on currencies can have big impact on trading
fujii who is stepping down for health reasons has repeatedly said that in
principle tokyo should refrain from market intervention to weaken the yen and
protect exporters
ford saw record china sales in
shanghai jan afp
us auto giant ford motor company and its chinese partners said thursday that
sales rose record percent year on year in with more than
vehicles sold
ford passenger car joint venture in china changan ford mazda automobile
sold units last year an increase of percent over the previous year
the company said in statement
the joint venture sales were boosted by tax cuts on small engine vehicles that
strengthened demand for the focus compact car and the fiesta subcompact the us
auto maker said
sales at ford commercial vehicle joint venture jiangling motors corp
totalled units it said in statement rising percent from
ford is increasingly looking to china for growth after major restructuring and
is also currently in talks with chinese carmaker geely over the sale of its
swedish brand volvo
china overtook the united states year ago to become the largest car market in
the world boosted by beijing efforts to stimulate domestic consumption
the country auto sales for the first months of the year reached
million units according to the china association of automobile manufacturers
market leader and fellow us carmaker general motors announced this week it
sold record million vehicles in china last year and expressed optimism
for even better results in
gm results marked percent sales jump year on year
qaeda says cia attack revenge for drone killings site
kabul jan afp
al qaeda hailed the suicide bombing that killed seven cia agents in afghanistan
as revenge for the deaths of top militants in us drone strikes the monitoring
group site said thursday
jordanian doctor who was said to be triple agent blew himself up at the us
military base in khost near the pakistani border on december in the deadliest
attack against the cia since
the head of al qaeda in afghanistan mustafa abu al yazid said the bomber wrote
in his will that the attack was revenge for our righteous martyrs and named
several top militants killed in drone attacks in pakistan site reported
yazid described the bomber humam khalil abu mulal al balawi mission as
successful epic to penetrate both us and jordanian intelligence according to
the statement published by the us based site intelligence group
he vowed that qaeda would continue to fight the americans until they inflict
upon them the greatest and most astonishing deaths and wounds
the slain militant masterminds named by al qaeda included baitullah mehsud the
leader of pakistan taliban blamed for wave of deadly attacks notably the
killing of former prime minister benazir bhutto in december
mehsud was killed when us missile slammed into his father in law house on
august last year
abu saleh al somali described as part of al qaeda core leadership and
responsible for plotting attacks in europe and the united states was killed in
drone strike in the north waziristan area near the afghan border in december
last year
us media have described the khost base as key anti terror facility that
oversaw the drone strikes targeting al qaeda and taliban on the pakistan border
and centre for recruiting and debriefing informants
the al qaeda statement surfaced after another round of us missile strikes killed
militants in north waziristan on wednesday
the targeted area is stronghold of hafiz gul bahadur who fought with the
taliban during the us led invasion and is said to control up to fighters
whom he sends across the border but who do not attack in pakistan
washington has put pakistan on the frontline of the war on al qaeda and the
eight year conflict against the taliban in afghanistan hinging success on
dismantling militant sanctuaries along the porous border
us senator john mccain used visit to afghanistan on thursday to hail the drone
attacks as an effective weapon against islamist militants
drones had knocked al qaeda and other extremist groups off balance and they
have been successful mccain said
think it should continue think it an important tool in our overall
strategy and we can claim measurable success in carrying out those operations
he told reporters
strikes by unmanned us spy planes have soared since president barack obama took
office the strikes have killed more than people since august inflamed
anti americanism and seen extremists vow revenge
although the pakistani government which depends on us assistance officially
condemns the operations public criticism has lessened since mehsud was killed
and analysts say they have islamabad tacit approval
balawi blew himself up at forward operating base chapman during meeting with
the cia killing seven agents and his jordanian handler who was senior
intelligence officer and member of the royal family
jihadist websites have said balawi was triple agent who duped western
intelligence services for months before turning on his handlers
the jordanian intelligence services believing the bomber to be their double
agent reportedly took him to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding
al qaeda number two ayman al zawahiri
intelligence experts said it was possible the base let its guard down in
searching the bomber because he was coveted informant
it was the deadliest incident for the cia since when eight agency
employees were killed when islamist militants bombed the us marine barracks in
beirut killing americans and french
the united states is increasingly reliant on the cia and other covert forces to
pursue its strategic goals
cia and special forces were at the forefront of the us led invasion of
afghanistan that overthrew the taliban extremist regime after the september
attacks
urgent six egyptian copts killed in christmas eve attack
cairo jan afp
gunmen opened fire on crowd in south egypt town killing policemen and six
coptic christians on the eve of their christmas celebrations security officials
said thursday
german retail sales down percent in official estimate
frankfurt jan afp
german retail sales fell by around percent in from the previous year
an official estimation said thursday as consumption fared better than europe
biggest economy in general
the federal statistics office provisional figure based on data from the first
months of the year was in line with sector forecasts
at constant prices however the drop was expected to be between and
percent the destatis office said
that is still better however than the contraction of around five percent that
german authorities have forecast for the overall economy last year its worst
slump since world war ii
key factor supporting consumption was the less than expected rise in
unemployment in large part the result of government subsidised short work
schemes from which around one million workers benefit at present
the retail sector federation hde and many economists have issued prudent
forecasts for however since unemployment is expected to rise despite
modest pickup in exports and industrial output
in november retail sales lost percent from their level the previous month
according to seasonally adjusted figures released by destatis
alert
six christians and policeman killed in egypt attack security official
anti whalers fight to save stricken superboat
sydney jan afp
anti whaling activists worked through the night to save the wrecked ady gil
superboat whose fate remained in the balance thursday after dramatic
collision with japanese ship
crew scrambled to salvage fuel and electronic equipment from the high tech
vessel one of the world most celebrated craft which had its front sliced off
in wednesday clash
the carbon and kevlar trimaran which smashed the round the world record for
powerboat in under its former name earthrace remained stranded off
antarctica commonwealth bay and in danger of sinking
they basically stayed up for hours alongside the ady gil retrieving as much
as they could said locky maclean first mate of the steve irwin anti whaling
ship
the central hull is flooded the nose of the vessel the front four and half
metres feet has sunk
maclean said the bob barker another anti whaling ship operated by the sea
shepherd group had tried and failed to tow the two million us dollar craft from
the area
she can tow it forward because there no front of the boat if they start
towing it frontwards it ll just fill with water he said they re trying to
tow it backwards and it proving very very difficult and there still water
coming in
so at the moment they re getting all of the fuel the batteries the oil and
all those types of things pumped out of the ady gil as quickly as possible to
ensure that if they do have to abandon the vessel because it sinks there won
be anything inside to cause any pollution
video of the incident shows the japanese security boat ploughing over the bow of
the sleek matt black ady gil as crew members scramble for safety one of the
six on board received broken ribs in the incident
the activists hope nearby french research vessel carrying crane may be able
to rescue the craft they remained determined to pursue the japanese fleet
which has already left the area
initially the crews were shocked thankfully everyone ok on board the ady gil
besides few broken ribs maclean said
but at this point everyone more determined than ever to continue chasing the
fleet the entire crew is extremely motivated now
steve irwin captain paul watson shrugged off the loss of the vessel bankrolled
by hollywood businessman ady gil as the fall out of the war on whaling
it handicaps us it two million dollar hit on our organisation but this is
war watson said
it war to save the whales and we re going to have to take our hits as we go
along as far as concerned these whales are worth far more than our
ships
the wave piercing vessel capable of speeds up to knots powered round the
world in just under days in two weeks faster than the previous record
circumnavigation by powerboat
french sailor bruno peyron and his crew in set the circumnavigation record
for windpowered vessel with time of days hours aboard the catamaran
orange ii
japan new finance minister says wants yen to weaken
tokyo japan jan afp
japan new finance minister naoto kan said thursday that he wanted the yen to
weaken causing the currency to drop on the foreign exchange market
kan said he would cooperate with the central bank to steer the yen to an
appropriate level in break from his predecessor tolerance of stronger
currency
the dollar rose to yen in the wake of the remarks from around yen
shortly before kan spoke
anti terror chief among seven killed in iraq blasts police
ramadi iraq jan afp
co ordinated early morning bombings on thursday at the homes of four police
officers in the western iraqi town of heet killed seven people including the
town anti terror chief police said
at am men planted bombs around the bedrooms of four houses belonging to
members of the police force including major walid al heeti the head of heet
anti terror department said lieutenant colonel fadhil nimrawi the head of the
town emergency response unit
the bombs killed seven people including the anti terror chief and wounded six
others including women and children from the four families
the dead included heeti wife and mother child and three other police
officers nimrawi said
the four houses are in different neighbourhoods across the centre of heet
town around kilometres miles west of the anbar provincial capital of
ramadi
no vehicles are being allowed in or out of heet nimrawi said as part of ramped
up security in the town
he added that several people had been arrested in connection with the attack
but declined to specify how many
exports to china help trim australian trade deficit
sydney jan afp
strong minerals exports to china helped australia cut its trade deficit to
billion dollars billion us in november official data showed thursday
the seasonally adjusted figure followed october revised deficit of
billion dollars the australian bureau of statistics said and beat market
forecasts of billion dollars
exports were down percent while imports fell percent analysts credited
chinese demand for the reasonably good numbers
it was bit better than expected said commonwealth bank senior economist
michael workman it is symptomatic of why australia has fared so well over the
last year and half
our level of exports have stayed relatively high because china purchase of
exports is for their domestic economy needs rather than their export sector
needs
urgent japan new finance minister says wants yen to weaken
tokyo jan afp
japan new finance minister naoto kan said thursday that he wanted the yen to
weaken causing the currency to drop on the foreign exchange market
german retail sales down by percent in official estimate
frankfurt jan afp
german retail sales fell by around percent in from the previous year
an official estimation said thursday figure in line with forecasts by sector
professionals
troops kill militants end siege in indian kashmir police
srinagar india jan afp
indian troops shot dead two militants on thursday to end nearly hour siege
at hotel in the centre of the summer capital of indian kashmir senior
police officer said
the hotel was left in flames after the operation by security forces to break the
stand off that began when the attackers threw grenades and opened fire in
srinagar main market area
police officer was killed in wednesday gunbattles and one civilian died
later of his injuries police said eight other civilians were injured
the operation as far as we are concerned is over kuldeep khuda the state
police chief told reporters at the scene
khuda said the police had cleared the building from top floor before
encountering and killing the first militant this morning
the other terrorist tried to set the building on fire and the building had
caught fire and he tried to make his escape but he was shot down khuda said
we are trying to find out if any more terrorists were inside but there are two
bodies that are visible
the indian administered section of muslim majority kashmir has been wracked by
separatist insurgency for two decades though violence had fallen in recent
years
officials had sealed all the roads leading to lal chowk the main city square
that was under siege
pro pakistan militant group jamiat ul mujahedin said it was behind the
assault
overnight police fired teargas to disperse scores of pro militant kashmiri
youths who threw stones at security forces chanting kashmiri mujahedeen we
are with you and we want freedom
the last such militant attack in the city was staged by two militants on
paramilitary camp in october the two gunmen were eventually killed while
three soldiers were wounded
the unrest in kashmir has so far left more than people dead according to
official figures
anti terror chief among seven killed in iraq blasts police
ramadi iraq jan afp
an anti terror chief was among seven people killed in co ordinated early morning
bombings in the western iraqi town of heet on thursday policeman said
at am men planted bombs around the bedrooms of four houses belonging to
members of the police force including major walid al heeti the head of heet
anti terror department said lieutenant colonel fadhil nimrawi the head of the
town emergency response unit
the bombs killed seven people including the anti terror chief and wounded six
others including women and children from the four families
alert
japan new finance minister says he wants yen to weaken further
asia markets subdued japan finance minister vows revival
hong kong jan afp
asian shares fell on profit taking thursday following weak lead from wall
street overnight as japan new finance chief pledged to revive the world
second largest economy
investors mulled mixed showing overnight on wall street after disappointing
report on private sector jobs and federal open market committee minutes noting
us unemployment would remain elevated for quite some time
however energy and resources stocks gained on strong crude prices as severe
winter in the northern hemisphere continues to deepen
in tokyo the nikkei closed percent lower at while sydney ended
down percent at with bank stocks weighing on the market hong kong
was percent lower by midday
chinese shares were off percent with auto makers leading the decline
singapore was percent lower
japanese stocks hit by profit taking after three days of gains were helped
by easing fears over the yen strength with traders betting that new finance
minister naoto kan will be less tolerant of stronger currency than his
predecessor
kan pledged thursday to revitalise japan and shake up his powerful ministry
day after year old hirohisa fujii quit due to poor health
while market players were closely watching what kan would say about his views on
foreign exchange policy the appointment did not have major impact on the
market dealers said
lot of investors are looking at the situation calmly now yutaka miura
senior technical analyst at mizuho securities told dow jones newswires
however japan airlines tumbled about percent on reports the government
backed entity overseeing its rehabilitation would slash billion yen
billion dollars of debt via waivers and cuts in pension obligations
the dollar was at yen in tokyo afternoon trade almost unchanged from its
level of in new york late on wednesday while the euro edged down to
dollars after and to yen against
traders in asia were waiting for key us labor department jobs data on friday
and they are ready to take profits from the recent gains said kazuhiro
takahashi market analyst at daiwa securities smbc
earlier on wall street the dow jones index closed flat after report ahead of
friday key data showed the private sector shed higher than expected
jobs in december
many stock investors decided to cash in on recent market rises that have been
fuelled by the predominantly upbeat sentiment towards the global economy
seoul was percent lower at with samsung electronics percent
off despite giving earnings guidance estimating billion dollars profit for
the december quarter
taipei drifted percent to pulling back htc taiwan leading
smartphone maker and the provider of google nexus one which is set to rival
apple iphone
htc fell percent to taiwan dollars
oil was lower in asia after hitting month highs overnight new york main
futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery shed cents to
dollars barrel thursday
brent north sea crude for february delivery fell cents to dollars
gold was at us dollars per ounce up from wednesday close of
wellington rose percent in thin trade to while manila closed
percent higher at
tennis politician drummer petkovic stands out from crowd
brisbane australia jan afp
she plays drums in rock and roll band her favourite authors are goethe and
oscar wilde and she wants to start political party to raise awareness of the
problems facing germany youth
and in her spare time andrea petkovic plays tennis for living
world number petkovic reached the semi finals of the season opening brisbane
international when she crushed fourth seeded slovakian daniela hantuchova
on wednesday
arriving at her post match press conference largely unknown the year old
from darmstadt in germany proceeded to give wide ranging interview covering
everything from the state of germany social welfare system to her love of
music and life after tennis
petkovic who was born in bosnia in the former yugoslavia and moved to germany
as child took different path from most of her fellow players opting to
study for political science degree before launching her tennis career
was playing before but never had any ambitions to be professional tennis
player until thought okay why not give it shot she said
petkovic cracked the top in but in her first grand slam appearance at
the australian open she tore her cruciate ligament in her knee and was out
of action for year
during her time away from the tour she worked as an intern at the hessian state
parliament and it was during this period she decided she would one day launch
her own party
in germany we have this great social state and the young people pay the
pensions of the old people and because we have million old people now and
not enough employees who are paying the pensions we have big problem she
said
the companies are not giving fixed permanent jobs to the young people they
are giving internships they are saying okay work one year we ll see what
happens
so it also affecting family politics because people aren having families
any more they are just trying to live day by day because they have no security
and the voters they are all old and the young people somehow crawl their way
out of politics they are not interested anymore and just want to raise
attention
sure this party will not be one that will be in government but sure it
may raise some attention for the problems of the young people
petkovic said she would remain in tennis until she was sure she had reached her
peak then she would walk away with no regrets
until then she will refuse to live in bubble and will continue to play the
drums and record songs
don want to be only focused on tennis she said
love playing and love being here and very serious about it but don
want to miss out on all the other opportunities that have in life
gulf states warned of possible qaeda attacks report
kuwait city jan afp
western intelligence has warned energy rich gulf states that al qaeda is on the
verge of launching attacks mainly on ships after regrouping in the past few
months the al qabas daily reported thursday
citing unnamed kuwaiti security sources the daily said that al qaeda has
trained operatives in the region to carry out attacks on war commercial and
passenger vessels in the gulf and arabian sea
western intelligence has urged gulf states to boost security measures to provide
protection for ships especially oil and gas tankers the kuwaiti security
sources said
the al qaeda network has been able to regroup over the past few months taking
advantage of deteriorating security in somalia and yemen and has successfully
established command and control bases in the two countries the sources said
they added that qaeda operatives in somalia have in recent weeks captured
advanced weapons from government forces and transferred them to their
counterparts in yemen
western intelligence also provided gulf states with names and locations of new
al qaeda command posts in somalia and names of field commanders and members in
gulf states most of whom unknown previously the added
yemeni security forces on wednesday captured mohammad al hanq key al qaeda
leader and two other militants believed behind threats against western
interests
the arrest came as yemen authorities said al qaeda jihadists were being choked
countrywide and forced into holes
yemeni forces have fought bloody battles with al qaeda militants in the past few
weeks
urgent anti terror chief among seven killed in iraq blasts police
ramadi iraq jan afp
an anti terror chief was among seven people killed in co ordinated early morning
bombings in the western iraqi town of heet on thursday policeman said
troops kill militants end siege in indian kashmir police
srinagar india jan afp
indian troops shot dead two militants on thursday to end nearly hour siege
at hotel in the centre of the summer capital of indian kashmir senior
police officer said
the operation as far as we are concerned is over kuldeep khuda senior
paramilitary police official told reporters at the scene
korea reports foot and mouth outbreak
seoul jan afp
south korea thursday confirmed an outbreak of highly contagious foot and mouth
disease on cattle farm
the outbreak occurred in pocheon kilometres miles northeast of seoul
the agriculture ministry said adding details would be disclosed later
foot and mouth disease affects animals with cloven hooves such as cattle pigs
deer goats and sheep the virus can be spread between animals through the air
and on clothing
the disease was reported south korea in and resulting in the
slaughter of infected animals at total cost of about billion won
million dollars
alert
anti terror chief among seven killed in iraq blasts police
urgent troops kill militants end siege in indian kashmir police
srinagar india jan afp
indian troops shot dead two militants on thursday to end nearly hour siege
at hotel in the centre of the summer capital of indian kashmir senior
police officer said
china freeze to continue as power use food prices rise
beijing jan afp
more regions of china faced power shortages food prices rose and the government
warned of crop damage as cold front kept its icy grip on the country thursday
with more chilly weather forecast
vast swathe of the country from the interior southwest to its northeastern
seaboard has seen unprecedented spikes in electricity and coal use as
residents sought to keep warm china national radio reported
state run xinhua news agency quoted power grid officials saying china did not
face an energy crunch but concern appeared to be rising over the situation
which echoed severe power shortage caused by cold weather
historic cold wave in january of that year virtually paralysed china bringing
record low temperatures transport chaos fuel shortages and power outages
across large parts of the nation
as demand strained power grids several provinces and regions have begun
rationing electricity or imposed other restrictions state media reported
although few details of the measures were given
the affected areas included jiangsu shandong henan hubei jiangxi and hunan
provinces as well as the municipalities of chongqing and shanghai xinhua said
agriculture ministry officials said wednesday food prices were rising as
transportation crimped delivery and the cold weather damaged crops
prices for vegetables had increased as much as percent in recent days in some
areas while the winter wheat industry accustomed to years of rising
temperatures was threatened the officials said according to xinhua
the extreme cold weather conditions this winter pose new challenge for the
winter wheat crop zhou puguo an official with the ministry crop division
was quoted as saying
he however insisted that china did not face crop crisis
china has endured an unusually early and cold winter reaching its height over
the past week with heavy snow across the north of the country and rare snowfalls
further south
weekend snowstorm was beijing heaviest in decades and wednesday low of
minus degrees celsius two degrees fahrenheit was the lowest in the
capital since
the china meteorological administration on thursday forecast more snow for parts
of northern and northwestern china over the next several days
meanwhile normally warmer southern parts of the country would see temperatures
below freezing accompanied by sleet it said
iran foreign minister visits baghdad amid border row
baghdad jan afp
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki was in baghdad thursday for talks
with iraqi leaders over bilateral ties officials said just weeks after
dispute between the two countries over their border
mottaki who last visited iraq in september was holding press conference with
his iraqi counterpart hoshyar zebari and was also due to meet with president
jalal talabani the iraqi officials said
iranian television said mottaki was heading large delegation on the visit
iran has often been accused by us military leaders whose forces still have
large presence in iraq of funding and training shiite militant groups and
undermining security in the conflict torn country
mottaki latest visit comes just weeks after iran forces took over an oil well
along the two countries disputed border prompting stand off that drove up
international crude prices
on december iraq state owned south oil co said about dozen iranian
troops and technicians had arrived at the field taken control of the well and
raised the iranian flag they eventually withdrew days later
the takeover was one of the most serious incidents between the two neighbours
since the us led invasion of toppled now executed dictator saddam hussein
regime which fought devastating war against iran
zebari told lawmakers last month however that iran has been violating iraq
borders since
many leaders of shiite parties who were exiled in iran during the saddam era are
now in power in baghdad the two countries share kilometre mile
border
