hong kong jan afp
hong kong leader on monday condemned protesters who clashed with pepper spray
wielding police at the weekend over controversial billion dollar express
rail link with southern china
the protesters irresponsible behaviour infringed on the core values of the
hong kong society the spirit of the law and our collective interests chief
executive donald tsang told press briefing
it also deprived people of the chance to express their views in peaceful and
sensible manner he said
tsang comments were aimed at about protesters who staged sit in
outside the city legislative council on saturday after lawmakers approved
funding for the high speed railway
the group mostly students and young professionals surrounded the council
building and refused to let transport chief eva cheng and other government
officials leave
officers used pepper spray when protesters tried to break through police
barricades
the city security chief ambrose lee said he strongly condemned the behaviour
of the protesters adding that pepper spray was the minimal force authorities
could use to control the situation
the guangzhou shenzhen hong kong express rail link will form part of china
national high speed rail network cutting travel time between hong kong and the
southern city of guangzhou to minutes just under half the current duration
officials say the project is important for fostering economic ties between hong
kong and major cities on the chinese mainland
construction is expected to be completed by
but critics said the public had not been properly consulted and that the scheme
was over priced they also said it would only benefit developers while forcing
villagers along the route to relocate
on friday night another protesters gathered outside tsang home to
demand dialogue with him on the project the group dispersed peacefully after
midnight when he did not show up
tennis safina murray through as sharapova crashes out
melbourne jan afp
former champion maria sharapova was high profile casualty at the australian
open on monday but there were no dramas for dinara safina and andy murray who
spearheaded the charge into the second round
american andy roddick also cruised through as did comeback queens kim clijsters
and justine henin in stark contrast to sharapova who was shadow of her
former self in defeat to maria kirilenko
it was disastrous start to the year for the underdone year old seeded
who opted to only play exhibitions in thailand and hong kong as warm up to the
opening grand slam of the season
playing with the roof closed on the rod laver arena due to persistent rain
which disrupted play on outside courts she struggled to find consistency
against player ranked
certainly had my chances and just didn execute she said
there is no grey area it was just up and down in many areas and just finished
at the down level
the pin up won here in but was deprived of defending her title last year
after failing to recover from shoulder surgery which kept her out of action
until may
another of the russian contingent safina downed slovakia th ranked
magdalena rybarikova while third seed svetlana kuznetsova also
progressed
safina battled double faults and unforced errors in an emotional and spasmodic
performance and was happy to get the win
it was not an easy first round match she very good opponent said the
number two seed who was thrashed in the final last year by serena williams
had some good moments and bad moments but overall happy went through
clijsters who sensationally won the us open last year after coming out of
retirement was too good for canada valerie tetreault romping home
in under an hour
the powerful belgian along with henin lurk as dark horses to bookmakers
favourite williams who gets her title defence underway on tuesday against
poland urszula radwanska
henin was equally impressive downing fellow belgian kirsten flipkens
in only her second tournament since making comeback from an month
retirement
on the men side scotland andy murray was in imposing form as he breezed
past south african qualifier kevin anderson
murray fancied to become the first british man to win grand slam singles
title since will face either france marc gicquel or italy simone
bolelli in the second round
could have served better he said it was good start he tough
player he beat novak djokovic before in miami he won tour event so
wasn expecting it to be easy just got off to good start which helped
american seventh seed roddick motored past dutchman thiemo de bakker
to stay on track for potential quarter final clash with us open champion
juan martin del potro who won his match against american michael russell in
four sets
roddick is now for the new season after coming into the australian open as
the winner of the lead up brisbane international
first rounds are always little uncomfortable especially at slam you re
kind of built up you re maybe little bit over anxious he said
but thought overall it was all right
world number two and defending champion rafael nadal plays later monday against
australia peter luczak
top seed roger federer opens his tournament on tuesday against russia igor
andreev with third seed djokovic and sixth seed nicolay davydenko posing the
main threat for him in his top half of the draw
five dead in ukraine hospital blast officials
kiev jan afp
at least five people were killed on monday when oxygen canisters exploded in the
intensive care unit of ukrainian hospital and caused several floors to
collapse officials said
prime minister yulia tymoshenko in the midst of bitter election campaign set
off for the scene of the blast in the eastern ukrainian city of lugansk close to
the border with russia her office said
as result of violation of security rules in the intensive care unit of
hospital number seven of lugansk oxygen canisters exploded it said in
statement
several floors of the hospital collapsed it said
ukraine emergency situations ministry said that as result of rescue efforts
three people have been saved and the corpses of five people have been
extracted
the health ministry said in statement that patients and medical
personnel were in the hospital at the time of the blast it said seven people
had so far been rescued from the rubble
local internet newspaper vostochny variant said the third and fourth floors of
the building had collapsed onto the second
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
afp animated graphics advisory
paris jan afp
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viktor yanukovich and prime minister yulia tymoshenko after voters
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budapest public transport strike ends after six days
budapest jan afp
public transport workers ended six day strike here monday after management
finally agreed to unions pay demands
the strike shut down much of public transport in budapest and triggered major
traffic jams around the city with almost all of the bus lines and majority of
tramways not running since tuesday
neverthless the hungarian capital three underground lines remained
undisrupted
in the face of rising public frustration over the situation management finally
bowed to the unions demands for forint euro dollar year end
bonus percent increase in the employers social welfare contributions and
hot meal tickets the same as the workforce had received last year
management agreed on condition the additional payouts did not exceed
billion forint million euros
ransom paid to pirates for greek supertanker
mogadishu jan afp
somali pirates on monday freed the greek supertanker maran centaurus one of the
largest ships ever hijacked after plane dropped more than five million
dollars in ransom on the deck
the ransom sparked deadly feud within the group of pirates delaying the
release of the ship and its crew of who were taken in the indian ocean on
november
maran tankers management inc report that the vessel was released by those
holding her at local time today gmt the operators and managers of
the greek juggernaut said in statement
the tanker with all crew on board is now under naval escort on route to
suitable safe port
the european union anti piracy naval mission said the fs salamis warship had
sent helicopter to the maran centaurus for medical assistance and the freed
vessel was headed for durban in south africa
ecoterra international an environmental group that monitors illegal maritime
activity in the region said the last pirates left the supertanker early monday
the stash of the record breaking ransom over seven million dollars is
reportedly now held in heavily guarded house in harardhere the group said in
statement
it added that pirates reportedly bragged about generously giving dollars to
each crew member filipinos nine greeks two ukrainians and romanian
for good cooperation
the ransom was brought in this afternoon and it is million us dollars
ahmed ganey member of the gang that hijacked the ship told afp on sunday
he said that clashes broke out over the sharing of the bounty which several
sources said resulted in two deaths
on december the metre foot long ship was brought to the pirate
base of hobyo but was subsequently moved further south to harardhere the somali
piracy stronghold
the year old supertanker the second largest vessel seized by somali pirates
yet is carrying two million barrels of crude
the largest snatched by somalia marauding freebooters was the sirius star
saudi owned carrier seized in for which an estimated eight million dollar
ransom was paid
the hijacking of the sirius star sent shockwaves through the shipping world as
pirates showed their power in one of the world busiest maritime trade routes
the incident also raised fears that pirates might one day use hijacked ship as
weapon to carry out an attack and cause unprecedented human and environmental
damage
the ship the first known case of greek flagged vessel being hijacked was
headed from saudi arabia to the united states
the tonne deadweight supertanker hijacked by nine pirates was easy
prey for pirates equipped with fast skiffs and grapnels as it moves slowly
could not outmanoeuvre the sea bandits and has low freeboard
supertankers such as these with less than crew on ship third of
kilometre long cruise on auto pilot most of the time and would rarely have
anybody keeping watch on deck at night
since foreign navies deployed to protect the crucial maritime choking point of
the gulf of aden somalia sea bandits have ventured deeper into the indian
ocean seizing ships as far east as the seychelles and beyond
always paid in cash to avoid modern transaction monitoring large ransoms have
often been parachuted from small planes directly onto the deck of the hijacked
ship
in the maran centaurus case such an operation is facilitated by the fact that
its deck can hold three football pitches
according to ecoterra the pirates still hold at least ships and around
seamen hostage
sarkozy visits france tropical new department
mamoudzou mayotte jan afp
president nicolas sarkozy arrived monday in mayotte tiny indian ocean island
plagued by illegal immigration that last year voted to become an integral part
of france
sarkozy was due to meet officials to discuss the immigration problems on the
island where around third of the residents have illegally entered
from the nearby comoros islands
last year french authorities shipped comorans back home from mayotte
whose mostly muslim people last year voted for their island to ditch its
french ruled collectivity status and become department of france
sarkozy was due to meet with range of officials on mayotte before flying on to
la reunion another island in the indian ocean that is part of france
year ago la reunion was hit by the strikes and rioting that struck france
caribbean islands guadeloupe and martinique the islanders were protesting
against high prices and low wages
martinique and french guiana the south american territory wedged between brazil
and suriname voted against more autonomy from paris in referendum earlier
this month dominated by fears of losing french state support
eu to give million euros in haiti reconstruction aid
brussels jan afp
european nations on monday pledged tens of millions more in reconstruction aid
for haiti hoping to reach over million euros to help the quake ravaged
nation recover from an epic disaster
european union development ministers meeting in brussels also discussed the
launch of security mission to haiti to help maintain law and order amid the
chaos caused by people desperate to get food and water
the aid will be greater than million euros million dollars said
top eu official speaking on condition of anonymity with diplomat adding
the final amount could even go above million euros
international aid workers are struggling to cope with the scale of the disaster
in the caribbean island nation where officials fear the final death toll could
top
quarter of million more were injured and million left homeless in the
wake of tuesday magnitude quake
the new eu funds will come from budgeted money not yet spent in other areas and
is distinct from emergency aid of which eu nations have already provided some
million euros and which is also expected to grow considerably the
diplomat said
britain itself trebled its humanitarian aid to million dollars international
development secretary douglas alexander announced
it is now clear that the international community is dealing with an almost
unprecedented level of devastation he said in statement
the impact of this earthquake is magnified because it has hit country that
was already desperately poor and historically volatile
france will release million euros million dollars in emergency funds in
response to united nations appeal foreign minister bernard kouchner said
monday in paris
according to an initial eu damage assessment more than physical
structures were destroyed or damaged in the haitian capital port au prince
but aid has been difficult to get into haiti given the number of planes and
ships descending on the country to help while people in need have no way of
knowing where to go to find the food and water they so badly need
another us military personnel were expected by monday to join us
forces already on the ground or in ships off haiti
us admiral said more humanitarian aid was coming through guantanamo the us
naval base in cuba every day
spanish foreign minister miguel angel moratinos said the united nations had
asked the eu to provide logistical support for ships laden with emergency
supplies and helicopters to help unload aid
he also said the world wanted brussels to provide police units to protect the
aid distribution and prepare the roads with military engineers demand
ministers discussed at their talks in brussels
britain development aid secretary michael foster at the meeting said his
understanding is that the us has some troops on the ground in haiti and
that should be more than enough as security mission
but france development minister alain joyandet said about thousand members
of rarely deployed european rapid reaction police force could be sent in
this body groups gendarmes from france italy the netherlands portugal and
romania
this tragedy will require all of us all across the world to put in
significant effort to support this country and that is what we re going to do
said eu foreign affairs chief catherine ashton in brussels
we re looking with the un at any request they make to us there is really an
issue about public order and we ve asked the un to let us know of contributions
that they would like us to consider
ashton who travels to new york on wednesday for meetings with us and un
officials said there was no question of swamping the system stressing the
big logistical questions
she underlined you can just walk in and dump aid you have to plan to do it
properly to make sure it reaches everyone
another eu diplomat said the bloc is also likely to back calls for an
international reconstruction conference on haiti to be held under the auspices
of the un and the world bank
france to give million euros emergency aid to haiti fm
paris jan afp
france will release million euros in emergency funds for quake struck haiti
in response to united nations appeal foreign minister bernard kouchner said
monday
france has decided to respond to the urgent appeal for haiti launched by the
united nations on january by giving contribution of million euros
million dollars he said in statement
the united nations on friday made an appeal of million dollars from the
world community to help victims of the earthquake that devastated haiti and may
have killed more than
un humanitarian chief john holmes launched the flash appeal saying the funds
would be used to help three million haitians badly affected by the january
quake
football easier world cup ticket sales planned for south africans
johannesburg jan afp
south africans will be able to buy world cup tickets over the counter the
tournament chief said monday following complaints that the existing sales
system is too complicated for local fans
currently south africans can apply for tickets online or at bank branches
drawing criticism because many fans have no internet access or have to travel
long distances to banks
we are definitely in the process of changing this and as member of the
ticketing committee am confident that fifa will understand our position
chief organiser danny jordaan told government news agency
he said fans could expect to buy their tickets over the counter from april
adding that fifa would discuss the details of the new system at its next
meeting
last week jordaan voiced concern that few local fans were buying tickets for the
national team bafana bafana saying it would the first time in world cup history
that the host nation is not topping the ticket sales list
around percent of the three million tickets set aside for south african
residents have been sold for the first world cup on african soil
greek farmers block roads to demand financial help
athens jan afp
greek farmers blocked roads on monday to demand financial help because of low
prices for their products but minister warned that the crisis hit government
could not afford more payouts
the farmers began setting up roadblocks in the thessaly region in the country
centre and in east macedonia in the north on sunday they announced on monday
that they planned to block border posts with turkey and bulgaria in the
northeast
they were seeking financial assistance because of drop in prices for products
including wheat cotton and milk
deputy finance minister philippos sachinidis traveled to roadblock near lamia
in thessaly on sunday and told protesters that the government had already
provided financial aid to farmers in december and could afford no more
there is no more room for other subsidies he said
greece has been hit by major financial crisis with debt constituting
percent of gdp
the european commission has published damning report on the country
unreliable economic figures increasing chances the eu executive will launch
infringement proceedings against the country
greece socialist government came to power in october after over five years of
conservative rule
greek farmers held similar protests year ago
world tourism to rebound from crisis in unwto
madrid jan afp
international tourist arrivals should recover strongly in after the global
crisis and the swine flu pandemic produced one of the most difficult years for
the sector the un world tourism organisation said monday
world tourism fell by an estimated percent in but should rebound by
to percent in it said in its annual world tourism barometer
growth returned in the last quarter of contributing to better than expected
full year results
was one of the most difficult years that tourism has seen in recent
times unwto secretary general taleb rifai told news conference
he cited the global economic crisis aggravated by the uncertainty around the
pandemic
yet we are optimistic that the recovery is underway the trend is bottoming
out
it said the growth outlook was confirmed by the remarkable rise of the
wnwto panel of experts confidence index it said
the results of recent months suggest that recovery is underway and even
somewhat earlier and at stronger pace than initially expected said rifai
but he said would still be demanding year
many countries were quick in reacting to the crisis and actively implemented
measures to mitigate its impact and stimulate recovery
although we expect growth to return in premature withdrawal of these
stimulus measures and the temptation to impose extra taxes may jeopardise the
pace of rebound in tourism he said
he noted significant growth in domestic tourism particularly in some large
countries such as china brazil and spain as result of the crisis
on regional basis he said europe and north america are lagging asia and
the middle east are pushing ahead
europe ended down percent after very complicated first half with
destinations in central eastern and northern europe particularly badly hit
the report said
but asia and the pacific where tourism was down percent showed an
extraordinary rebound
while arrivals in that region declined by percent between january and june
the second half of saw percent growth reflecting regional economic
results and prospects
arrivals were down percent in the middle east but the region though still
far from the growth levels of previous years had positive second half
it said africa bucked the trend with growth of percent
in the americas where arrivals were down percent the caribbean returned to
growth in the last four months of
the performance was more sluggish in the other sub regions with the
influenza outbreak exacerbating the impact of the economic crisis the report
found
wall street sell off hits asian shares
hong kong jan afp
wall street worst performance so far in weighed on asia stocks monday
amid fresh fears over the pace of recovery while japan airlines sank to new
low ahead of its expected bankruptcy
dive in oil prices also hit sentiment as crude tumbled after the
international energy agency iea last week predicted sluggish demand this
year in the developed world with emerging markets accounting for increases
however bargain hunting mixed with local factors in some markets to help other
shares into the black
doubts about the strength of recovery in the us the world biggest energy
user were raised last week when it reported crude reserves had increased
despite severe cold snap across much of the country
new york main light sweet crude contract has slid from month high of
dollars early last week in singapore monday new york crude for february
delivery fell cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for february delivery was down cents at dollars
oil is under pressure primarily from economic considerations said victor
shum singapore based analyst with energy consultancy purvin and gertz
some of the economic data out of the us were not really robust and so these
data raised doubts about the health of the us consumer and the strength of the
us economy
dealers in the region were also absorbing percent fall on wall street
friday the biggest drop this year amid lack of enthusiasm over earnings
results so far
tokyo was off percent or points at
jal plunged percent to an all time low of five yen five cents day
before it is expected to file for bankruptcy as it struggles under enormous
debts it is also widely thought jal will delist its stock
the carrier market value is now just million dollars less than the cost
of one new jumbo jet
while tokyo has said it will try to ensure its survival during restructuring
investors expect to lose most or all of their money if it files for bankruptcy
in the meantime many short term speculators are trading the shares to try to
make quick profit dealers said
this has become pure money game said masatoshi sato strategist at mizuho
investors securities there is really no meaning to the level of the shares
the firm stock has plunged percent over the past three months
hong kong was percent or points down at
however shanghai closed up percent or points at
the index morning falls were erased by airlines which were boosted by china
eastern airlines reporting that it expected to turn profit for
the carrier climbed percent to yuan and air china rose percent to
yuan
chinese and hong kong banks and property plays were held by growing concerns
beijing will further tighten monetary policy to keep lid on the nation
soaring economic growth
investors are on the sidelines as they are waiting for further monetary policy
signals which will have an impact on sectors such as banks guoyuan securities
analyst simon wang told dow jones newswires
meanwhile china launched the csi cross straits index monday in bid to
boost financial cooperation in the greater china region
but on its first day the index which covers firms listed in the mainland
hong kong and taiwan ended down percent at according to the
company website
sydney ended percent or points higher at on gains in the
financial sector which offset falls among the big miners
bhp billiton dropped percent to australian dollars us dollars
and rio tinto shed percent to
seoul added percent or points to finish at
the euro slid to dollars in tokyo afternoon trade from in new york
late friday it rose to yen from the dollar gained to yen
from
and in hong kong gold closed flat at us dollars an ounce
unchanged from friday
in other markets
singapore was percent or points higher at
dmg technical analyst james lim said further gains would likely be limited with
no major moves this week
we note that the immediate trend is looking much more muted we thus believe
that consolidation would be forthcoming for the index he said
singapore telecom rose one cent to dollars and singapore airlines climbed
four cents to
taipei lost percent or points to
the drop was despite three memoranda of understanding with china going into
effect saturday
lead cause of the fall was because financial authorities said they would allow
total of million us dollars worth chinese institutional investments in the
local market lower than the previously expected one billion dollars
kuala lumpur was flat shedding points to close at
public bank rose percent to ringgit while southern steel climbed
percent to ringgit
manila dropped percent or points to
there nothing in the local front to move the market joseph roxas of eagle
equities said adding that investors were likely to look for overseas cues
jakarta lost percent or points to
miner bumi resources fell percent to rupiah and telecoms provider
indosat gained percent to
bangkok was flat edging up points to
coal producer banpu fell to baht and siam cement was off to
baht
wellington fell percent or points to close at
fletcher building fell cents to dollars and contact energy was down
eight cents at
tennis henin impresses in first round win
melbourne jan afp
former world number one justine henin was in impressive form as she downed
fellow belgian kirsten flipkens in the first round of the australian
open on monday
playing only her second tournament since making comeback from an month
retirement the seven time grand slam champion was always in control against her
younger rival wrapping up the match in minutes
henin broke flipkens early in both sets as she cruised to comfortable victory
hitting clean winners in the match to her opponent
the year old who won the australian open in retired from tennis in may
saying she no longer had the motivation to continue
but soon after compatriot kim clijsters won the us open on her own comeback last
september henin announced that she too would return to the sport
she played her first tournament in brisbane at the start of the year losing
thrilling three set final to clijsters but showing she had lost few of her
skills or her renowned tenacity in her time away
she will now play the winner of the match between fifth seed elena dementieva
