the authorities in the world most populous nation regularly block content and
websites they deem politically objectionable
the us government has stepped into the fray with the white house backing the
right to free internet and secretary of state hillary clinton asking for an
explanation from beijing
when asked about clinton statements jiang said we have expanded on our
position to the us side
urgent iraq sentences men accused of august bombings to death
baghdad jan afp
an iraqi court on thursday sentenced men accused of plotting deadly bombings
in baghdad on august to death by hanging judicial official told afp
three killed in southern thailand
yala thailand jan afp
suspected islamic militants thursday shot dead and burned buddhist couple and
attacked family of four killing the father as fresh violence hit thailand
troubled south police said
six year separatist insurgency in the kingdom muslim majority provinces
along the malaysian border has killed more than people and wounded
thousands more
police said year old man and his wife were on motorcycle on their
way to work at telephone company when attackers gunned them down in pattani
the capital of the province of the same name
the militants then doused the buddhist couple bodies with gasoline and torched
them in the middle of the road police said
gunmen later targeted buddhist man his wife their year old daughter and
month old baby girl as they travelled together by motorcycle to school in
pattani province said police
the man and his elder daughter were wounded in the attack and he later died of
his injuries in hospital
two soldiers on foot patrol were wounded in roadside bomb attack minutes later
in the province
the insurgency erupted in january but tensions had simmered in the south
ever since mainly buddhist thailand annexed former malay muslim sultanate in
the shadowy militants have not publicly stated their goals and use range of
methods in their attacks ranging from bombs and shootings to burnings
beheadings and even crucifixions
alert
iraq court sentences men accused of august bombings to death
tennis isner dumps robredo from heineken open
auckland jan afp
giant american john isner called on every inch of his six feet nine inch
centimetre frame thursday to upset spanish top seed tommy robredo thursday in
their heineken open quarter final
the unseeded american fired booming aces and powerful barrage of ground
strokes to down the world number with victory in the
auckland atp event ahead of next week australian open
in match of see sawing fortunes the world rd ranked player had to
overcome an early break by the spaniard in the third set before breaking back
twice for victory
it always encouraging to come back and win set when was down
that ll give me lot of confidence going forward isner said afterwards
felt served pretty well today the outdoor hard courts suit my game the
balls bounce higher and can play aggressively
robredo departure completed the exit of the top four seeds from spain after
number two david ferrer and number four nicolas almagro were beaten in the
second round third seed juan carlos ferrero was forced out with an ankle
sprain
isner will play another spaniard albert montanes in friday semi final after
the eighth seed had relatively easy victory over swiss qualifier
michael lammer who is ranked on the tour
montanes the winner of three clay court atp titles will be playing his first
hard court semi final with isner the victor in their only previous encounter
in auckland last year
frenchman arnaud clement continued his run of upset victories at the tournament
following up his second round win over ferrer by beating sixth seeded austrian
jurgen melzer
the year old world number will face either auckland champion philipp
kohlschreiber or compatriot marc gicquel in the semi finals
korea says us troops must quit korea
seoul jan afp
north korea thursday renewed its demand for us troops to leave south korea
three days after it proposed talks on peace treaty to formally end the
korean war
the united states has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the south since
the conflict ended only in an armistice leaving the parties still technically
at war
the united states and south korea have rejected the north call for early peace
talks saying the communist state must first return to nuclear disarmament talks
and show it is serious about scrapping its atomic weapons
without the withdrawal of us troops no autonomy will be guaranteed for the
people of south korea said rodong sinmun the newspaper of the north ruling
communist party
south koreans should campaign to uproot us invasion forces from their country
and stop joint exercises that cast the shadow of nuclear warfare it said
about american troops are currently stationed in the south
the north abandoned the six party nuclear disarmament talks last april month
before staging second nuclear test
in addition to its call for talks on peace treaty pyongyang is demanding that
sanctions be lifted before it returns to the forum grouping the two koreas
china the united states japan and russia
the us state department has rejected an end to sanctions at this stage
we ve made clear going back several months we re not going to pay north korea
for coming back to the six party process spokesman said this week
china urges foreign it firms to operate according to law
beijing jan afp
china said thursday that foreign internet firms were welcome to do business in
the asian nation according to law after google said it might leave the
country over cyber attacks and censorship
foreign ministry spokeswoman jiang yu offering beijing first official
response to the google row also emphasised that the communist government was
against any form of cyber attack such as hacking
china like other countries administers the internet according to law jiang
told reporters
also like to stress that china welcomes international internet enterprises
to conduct business in china according to law
global pirate attacks at six year high watchdog
kuala lumpur jan afp
piracy on the high seas rose to its highest level in six years in with
attacks becoming more frequent and more violent across the globe maritime
watchdog said thursday
there were reported incidents of piracy and high seas armed robbery in
up from the previous year but below the figure of in the
international maritime bureau imb said in report
our hope is that this escalating volume of piracy is met with heightened
response from the governments and their agencies best able to reduce and contain
these risks to human life and property imb director pottengal mukundan said
the imb said its piracy reporting centre in kuala lumpur received reports of
vessels being hijacked last year attempted attacks and vessels that were
fired upon
total of crew members were taken hostage injured and eight killed in
it said
urgent china urges foreign it firms to operate according to law
beijing jan afp
china said thursday that foreign internet firms were welcome to do business in
the asian nation according to law after google said it might leave the
country over cyber attacks and censorship
record quarter boosts rio iron ore output
sydney jan afp
anglo australian mining giant rio tinto beat annual forecasts thursday with
record breaking fourth quarter of iron ore production boosted by strong chinese
demand
rio said global iron ore production was up percent year on year at
million tonnes bringing the total for to million tonnes
the figure is an increase of percent on the previous year and ahead of
guidance given in october of between and million tonnes
global iron ore sales set new quarterly record of million tonnes with
full year sales record also set by rio pilbara operations in western
australia
this was another very strong quarter for iron ore driven by continuing high
demand from china rio chief tom albanese said in statement to the market
relations with the asian giant were strained last year following the arrest of
australian rio executive stern hu and three of his chinese colleagues on
allegations of spying amid fraught iron ore negotiations
beijing tuesday confirmed the investigation was complete and hu case had been
handed over to prosecutors in shanghai with foreign ministry officials saying
they were confident of lawful and just outcome
albanese said the impact of the global financial crisis on commodity prices was
beginning to ease but rio remained wary
we are seeing recovery across most of our key commodities although we continue
to be cautious about the state of the global economy going into as stimulus
packages start to wind down he said
full year mined copper production rose percent to tonnes ahead of
guidance while refined copper was up percent at tonnes just shy of
forecasts
there was some speculation the fourth quarter would be weaker than the third
given seasonal weather issues but the number surprised on the upside said ig
markets analyst chris weston adding that it was solid result
rio shares rallied on the news closing percent higher at dollars
largest religious festival on earth under way in india
haridwar india jan afp
hundreds of thousands of hindu devotees took ritual bath in india holy
ganges river before daybreak thursday as the world largest religious gathering
got under way
braving chilly weather hordes of pilgrims rose before sunrise in and around the
northern town of haridwar and made their way in darkness to the banks of the
river to immerse themselves in the sacred waters
they have come from all over india families and couples wealthy and poor
businessmen and farmhands and itinerant sadhus holy men draped in saffron
coloured robes
smaller bathing rituals were held along the entire length of the ganges
in the eastern state of west bengal seven pilgrims including one child were
crushed to death in stampede when hundreds of devotees rushed for places on
ferry to take them to bathing site on gangasagar island where the ganges
flows into the bay of bengal
for hindu devotees the three month kumbh mela festival offers them the chance
to wash away their sins and break the karmic cycle of life and rebirth
even in country where mass events are commonplace the sheer size of the kumbh
mela sets it apart
several million people were set to take part thursday on the first of four
particularly auspicious bathing dates with millions more expected to pass
through the sprawling festival encampment in haridwar over the next weeks
your soul will be cleansed and you will be free from disease if you take such
bath during this period sushant raj professional astrologist said as he
emerged from his own dip
the water is cleaner and has more natural power in the early morning he
added
women clustered on the final step of the ghats leading down to the river
unravelling their saris in the cold weather and using copper bowls to collect
the water and pour it over their heads and torsos
as the sun rose many stepped further into the river immersing their entire
bodies
one woman in bright red sari followed her ablutions by throwing necklaces of
bright marigolds into the river where they were taken downstream by the current
the water was really cold said bhawna agri who travelled with her family
from the neighbouring state of uttar pradesh to attend her first kumbh mela
only washed my hair and face and still freezing she said shivering on
the ghat steps
the festival commemorates mythical battle between gods and demons over
pitcher of the nectar of immortality
during the struggle few drops of nectar fell in four different places
allahabad in the state of uttar pradesh haridwar in uttarakhand ujjain in
madhya pradesh and nasik in maharashtra
the kumbh mela alternates between these four places and takes place every three
years once every years an even larger maha kumbh mela is held the next
will be in allahabad in
the triennial festival also marks the only public gathering of hundreds of naga
sadhus who otherwise live in relative isolation in mountains caves and
communes in the himalayas and other regions of india
naked and generally covered in layer of grey ash they are regarded by
devotees as earthly representatives of the gods because of their self sacrifice
and denial of the material world
the nagas carrying ritual swords and tridents will lead ceremonies on the most
auspicious bathing day of all on april when the mela draws to close
soham baba considered the leader of the nagas told reporters recently in
kolkata that they planned to use the kumbh mela to highlight the issue of
global warming
sadhus like us who go up to the higher reaches of the himalayas to meditate
have clear picture of how bad the situation is he said
pristine lakes and waterfalls that existed till few years ago have dried up
over the years the festival has also become something of tourist attraction
drawing foreigners who sometimes come to participate or simply witness the
spectacle of so many people gathering for common purpose
it amazing and it crazy you can really feel the energy said marco
necher retiree and amateur photographer from liechtenstein
alert
china urges foreign internet firms to operate according to law
three killed in kashmir battle police
srinagar india jan afp
two suspected islamic militants and an indian army soldier were killed thursday
during gun battle in revolt hit kashmir in the latest of series of recent
clashes police said
the exchange of fire erupted late wednesday when the indian army and counter
insurgency police raided house where militants were said to be hiding about
kilometres miles south of the summer state capital srinagar
the ensuing encounter left two militants and soldier dead police
spokesman said adding two troopers and policeman were wounded in the clash
that lasted more than hours
one of the militants killed was identified by officials as adil pathan senior
commander of hizbul mujahedin indian kashmir most powerful militant group
on thursday last week indian commandos stormed hotel in srinagar where two
militants had been holed up for nearly hours killing the gunmen civilian
and policeman were also killed during the siege
kashmir had been relatively stable in recent months but indian police have
reported several prolonged clashes between troops and militants since the siege
suspected rebels have also killed three of their former colleagues during the
last week police said
an insurgency erupted in against indian rule of the muslim majority region
killing more than people by the official count
malaysian catholics lawyers offices targeted in allah row
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia catholic church said thursday the offices of its lawyers have been
burgled and ransacked in the latest of spate of attacks triggered by row
over the use of the word allah
in the past week nine churches have been fire bombed or vandalised escalating
tensions in the multicultural nation where the muslim malay majority lives
alongside ethnic chinese and indian communities
trouble broke out after the high court decided on december to lift
government ban on non muslims using allah as translation for god
our lawyer offices were broken into and burgled sometime between wednesday
evening and thursday morning and the office was ransacked said father lawrence
andrew editor of the catholic newspaper the herald
we believe the break in is linked to the ongoing situation over the use of the
word allah and we are very concerned he told afp
the law firm does not have any money or many valuables so we believe this is
purely aimed at intimidation
the church lawyer derek fernandez said laptop was stolen in the attack on
his firm offices in southwest kuala lumpur and he was investigating whether
any documents had been taken
this was very professional job as there were very strong grilles protecting
the office that were cut and the locks carefully replaced after the break in
he told afp
district police chief arjunaidi mohamed said his officers were probing the
incident
the high court ruling in favour of the herald which argued for the right to use
allah in its malay language section was suspended last week pending an
appeal after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict
since then churches have been hit with molotov cocktails splashed with black
paint and had windows smashed with stones triggering tighter security at places
of worship nationwide
about nine percent of malaysia million people are christians including
catholics more than half of malaysia catholics are from indigenous
groups mostly from borneo and who mostly speak the national language malay
the row is one of string of religious disputes in recent years that have
raised fears among minorities that the country is being islamised and that
their rights are being eroded
the us government watchdog on religious freedom voiced concern over the
violence and said the response of malaysian leaders would be vital in shaping
the nation future
the malaysian government has strongly criticised the attacks but has been
accused of stoking malay nationalism in order to protect its voter base after
elections that saw the opposition make unprecedented gains
the row is one of string of religious disputes in recent years that have
raised fears among minorities that the country is being islamised and that
their rights are being eroded
about nine percent of malaysia million people are christians including
catholics more than half of malaysia catholics are from indigenous
groups mostly from borneo
fitch affirms china sovereign credit ratings
beijing jan afp
fitch ratings on thursday affirmed its sovereign credit ratings for china
citing the country exceptional financial position its recent economic
performance and low government debt levels
the firm called china estimated percent growth in impressive amid
global recession but warned economic conditions in the country had increased
imbalances in the economy and risks in the banking system
the agency believes the surges in both investment spending and credit growth
are unsustainable if unaddressed this could lead to serious financial distress
in the medium term with sovereign rating implications fitch said
the agency said beijing recent economic policy including stimulus spending
focused on infrastructure and returning to an exchange rate effectively pegged
to the dollar had set back the rebalancing of china economy
fitch set china long term foreign currency and local currency issuer default
ratings at and aa respectively adding the outlook on the ratings was
stable
it forecast china economy would grow percent in but cautioned
similar growth rates could be difficult in the medium term without exports
rising sharply or increased domestic consumption
standard and poor affirmed china short term rating and an long
term rating on tuesday
in november moody upgraded its ratings outlook for china to positive from
stable giving policymakers in beijing the thumbs up for how they have
navigated the worst financial crisis in decades
wall street lead lifts asia shares
hong kong jan afp
renewed optimism over an improving global economic picture helped asian shares
gain ground thursday following stronger lead from wall street but fears
lingered over china monetary policy
sentiment was boosted by strong australian jobs data and wall street more
positive outlook on earnings season shrugging off earlier disappointment
after broad sell off in the previous session was sparked by beijing move to
hike the amount banks must hold in reserves hong kong gained percent by
the break thursday and shanghai was up percent
china shares were also lifted by plans to encourage consolidation between
telecom broadcast and internet firms
however some policy sensitive banks and property developers were lower and
analysts said thursday gains were only technical with worries over further
tightening at the forefront of investors minds
china banks and developers may still witness some selling pressure ahead as
china policy risks still prevail linus yip at first shanghai told dow jones
newswires
sydney closed percent higher with sentiment buoyed by stronger than
expected jobs data and record breaking quarterly iron ore sales from mining
giant rio tinto
the benchmark amp asx index gained points to on bigger than
expected fall in australia unemployment rate to percent in december down
from november revised figure of percent
tokyo closed up percent as shares in troubled carrier japan airlines jal
pulled out of their tailspin after several days of heavy losses
the nikkei index climbed points to
jal shares rose one yen to close at eight yen following plunge of almost
percent over the previous two days sparked by signs that the debt ridden carrier
is close to filing for bankruptcy protection and delisting its stock
seoul closed percent higher with the kospi up points at
singapore was percent higher in afternoon trade
asia followed wall street lead after the dow jones industrial average rose
percent to close at
the rebound indicated investors think the possibility that china tightening
would lead to other countries tightening or rate hikes to come earlier than
expected is low lee jin woo at mirae asset securities in seoul said
the us market shook off disappointment over weak earnings report from
aluminium giant alcoa earlier this week
the federal reserve beige book report which said the us economy is seeing
broader improvement in activity also boosted sentiment
the euro was higher in asia as investors anticipated upbeat factory data from
the eurozone ahead of monetary policy meeting by the european central bank
the euro firmed to dollars in tokyo morning trade from in new york
late wednesday it also gained to yen from the dollar edged up to
yen from
oil rebounded in asia after an overnight plunge on key us department of energy
report that indicated weaker demand in the world biggest energy consumer
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
rose cents to dollars per barrel
london brent north sea crude for february gained cents to dollars
hong kong gold opened higher at us dollars an ounce up from
wednesday close of dollars
in other markets
taipei closed up points or percent at
the rise which recovered much of the ground lost in the previous session
indicated the upward trend of the market remains unchanged said chen yu yu of
capital securities
manila closed percent or points higher at
the market was buoyed by advances on wall street and regional bourses first
philippine holdings rose percent to pesos while philippine long
distance telephone gained percent to pesos
wellington ended flat with rises in sydney supporting an otherwise
lacklustre market
the nzx index rose points to
china will lose out if google quits state paper
beijing jan afp
china will lose out if google makes good on threat to quit the country over
cyberattacks and censorship state newspaper warned thursday saying people
had the right to free flow of information
should the world most populous nation fail to provide foothold to the
world top search engine it would imply setback to china and serious loss to
china net culture said the english language global times run by the
communist party mouthpiece the people daily
it said if the us internet giant pulled out of the country with the world
largest online population at million it would be an incalculable loss to
its long term commitment to innovation as well as loss of future business
google vowed tuesday to stop bowing to chinese internet censors and risk
banishment from the lucrative market to protest highly sophisticated
cyberattacks aimed at chinese human rights activists
the information highway demands not only safe driving but also free flow of
traffic and in the interests of the majority right to know free flow of
information should take precedence in civil society the global times said
google and china going their separate ways would hurt both sides
some popular chinese language state run newspapers also ran reports that
mentioned google allegations which are widely seen as slap in the face to
the government
the beijing news also reported that people were visiting google offices in
beijing placing flowers and other gifts in show of support
such sensitive subjects are typically not widely reported by the nation
tightly controlled media
china has said it was seeking more information about the announcement requests
for comment from the foreign commerce and information technology ministries
were not immediately answered
the global times which splashed the story on its front page as did the
state run china daily said while censorship was justified in transitional
society like china to maintain social stability some limits were needed
the government must face up to the challenge of where and how to put the
checkpoints on the information highway it said
tennis australian open seedings
sydney jan afp
seedings announced on thursday for the australian open getting underway in
melbourne on monday
men
roger federer sui rafael nadal esp novak djokovic srb juan
martin del potro arg andy murray gbr nikolay davydenko rus
andy roddick usa robin soderling swe fernando verdasco esp
jo wilfried tsonga fra fernando gonzalez chi gael monfils fra
radek stepanek cze marin cilic cro gilles simon fra
tommy robredo esp david ferrer esp tommy haas ger
stanislas wawrinka sui mikhail youzhny rus tomas berdych cze
lleyton hewitt aus juan carlos ferrero esp ivan ljubicic
cro sam querrey usa nicolas almagro esp philipp
kohlschreiber ger jurgen melzer aut viktor troicki srb
juan monaco arg albert montanes esp jeremy chardy fra
women
serena williams usa dinara safina rus svetlana kuznetsova rus
caroline wozniacki den elena dementieva rus venus williams usa
victoria azarenka blr jelena jankovic srb vera zvonareva
rus agnieszka radwanska pol marion bartoli fra flavia
pennetta ita samantha stosur aus maria sharapova rus kim
clijsters bel li na chn francesca schiavone ita virginie
razzano fra nadia petrova rus ana ivanovic srb sabine
lisicki ger daniela hantuchova svk dominika cibulkova svk
maria jose martinez sanchez esp anabel medina garrigues esp
aravane rezai fra alisa kleybanova rus elena vesnina rus
shahar peer isr kateryna bondarenko ukr alona bondarenko ukr
carla suarez navarro esp
tennis kooyong classic results collated
melbourne jan afp
results from the second day of the kooyong classic here thursday
relegation round
fernando gonzalez chi bt tommy haas ger
ivan ljubicic cro bt robin soderling swe retired elbow
semi finals
fernando verdasco esp bt novak djokovic srb
jo wilfried tsonga fra bt juan martin del potro arg retired wrist
myanmar minister pledges free election asean
danang vietnam jan afp
myanmar foreign minister has told southeast asian counterparts that promised
elections would be held this year and would be fair the asean secretary general
said thursday
surin pitsuwan said the military ruled state foreign minister nyan win made
the comments at dinner wednesday in vietnam with his counterparts from the
association of southeast asian nations asean
that was done last night and it was assured that it will be this year and it
will be free fair and credible surin told reporters on the sidelines of an
asean foreign ministers meeting
no date has been set but everything is moving on course that what we were
told
surin said the asean ministers have expressed their high hope that the issue of
myanmar will be resolved this year and that we can move on to the new era of
asean relations and cooperation with the international community
asean which has principle of non interference in members affairs has long
faced criticism for not taking firmer stand on myanmar
nyan win refused to make any comment to afp on thursday
the united states and the member asean bloc agreed in november that myanmar
scheduled elections must be free fair inclusive and transparent to be
credible
the call came after president barack obama and myanmar prime minister thein sein
took part in the first ever asean us summit reversal of longstanding us
policy of shunning the myanmar regime
critics of the junta are demanding that detained opposition leader aung san suu
kyi party the national league for democracy be allowed to take part in in
the ballot
last week the united states voiced doubts whether elections in myanmar
formerly known as burma would be credible and urged the junta to engage the
opposition and ethnic minorities
the election would be the first since suu kyi party won the last ballot
by landslide but was never permitted to take office
reclusive junta leader than shwe last week urged citizens to make correct
choices at the polls the regime has so far failed to set date or issue
election laws despite promising to hold the polls this year
china urges us to respect its core interests xinhua
beijing jan afp
china parliamentary leader wu bangguo has called on the united states to
respect its core interests in talks with us senators following google
threat to leave the country state media reported
