north of the heavily guarded border ministry spokesman chun hae sung told
reporters
the meeting will be the first official contact between the two koreas this year
there will be comprehensive discussions between the two sides on the assessment
of their joint overseas survey he said
chun hoped the meeting would develop into regular forum on the development of
kaesong estate
kaesong is the last inter korean reconciliation project still operating but
fears grew early last year that the communist north may shut it down as
political relations worsened
the north last year ordered hundreds of south koreans to leave the estate
intermittently restricted cross border access to it and demanded huge pay rise
for its workers in south korean owned factories
in september amid peace overtures to the south the north dropped demands for
the pay rise last month the two sides inspected industrial plants run by south
korean companies in china and vietnam
during the survey the north paid attention to wage and insurance systems while
the south showed greater interest in infrastructure and safety issues tax
benefits and customs systems yonhap news agency said
in the cash strapped north received million dollars in wage payments at
kaesong
tennis gasquet benneteau guarantee french finalist
sydney jan afp
richard gasquet and julien benneteau will bid to become the first french
finalist at the sydney international for almost two decades when they play each
other in semi final here on friday
former world top player gasquet back after being cleared of doping last
year beat italian potito starace while benneteau downed
argentine leonardo mayer in thursday quarters
french finalist is guaranteed for saturday tournament decider for the first
time since guy forget played in the sydney final
three frenchmen have won the sydney international in the post open era
forget yannick noah and henri leconte
it has been an encouraging week for the rd ranked gasquet who has beaten
spanish davis cup winner feliciano lopez german eighth seed benjamin becker and
now the nd ranked starace to reach the semis
this will be the third time am in semi final in sydney gasquet said
ve lost two times in semis so hope this year will be able to go in the
final will try my best
think playing good and serving well and most important am happy to
play and to be here
gasquet won his only meeting with compatriot benneteau in straight sets in this
tournament three years ago
the australian open finalist marcos baghdatis of cyprus eliminated
australian four time tournament winner lleyton hewitt in another quarter final
it was the first time they had met since their epic third round encounter at the
australian open which started just before midnight and ran for four hours
minutes and hewitt won in five sets
baghdatis ranked will face the winner of the remaining quarter final
between australian davis cup member peter luczak and american mardy fish set
down for later on thursday
feeling fit no injuries no pain so guess will need some more matches
like this to start feeling my game coming slowly back baghdatis said
hewitt said he was not totally disappointed in bowing out of the tournament
early
was trying few different things out there today and mixing up the game
little bit he said
and hopefully it ll hold me in good stead for next week at the australian
open
didn quite hit the spots when need to do especially trying to
consolidate that break early in today second set which would have been good
to try and to keep that momentum
athletics semenya to return to track despite gender controversy
johannesburg jan afp
south africa women metres world champion caster semenya the subject of
an investigation into her gender will soon return to the track in local
competitions her coach told afp on thursday
she is going to run some triple at the yellow pages national series that
begins on february michael seme said
if she wins the local races seme said she is ready to compete internationally
again
you must run well and beat the other south africans before we are sure that she
is going to compete internationally he said
but he said that despite the media storm over the investigation into her gender
semenya never thought about quitting
she nevers thinks of leaving athletics she is always willing to run not
quitting he said
the year old dominated the event in the world championships last august
in berlin sauntering home to take the title seconds quicker than kenya
defending champion janeth jepkosgei who finished second despite coming into the
event virtual unknown
the sports governing body the international association of athletics
federations iaaf have maintained diplomatic silence after an accord brokered
with semenya lawyers and the south african government that said all had
reached total agreement on her title won at the berlin championships in
august
the parties also agreed that scientific tests into the gender of the first year
sports science student who grew up in rural village in northern south
africa will remain confidential
south african media said talks are still underway with iaaf on whether she can
run internationally
at present time there is nothing new from the iaaf regardless of what mrs
semenya coach may be saying the federation spokesman nick davies said
according to the star newspaper
we are still in negotiations and we hope that we can find position of
consensus as soon as possible he added
semenya rapid speed gains last year prompted questions about the gender of the
runner who has deep voice and muscular physique
leaked test results said semenya was hermaphrodite sparking anger from the
south african public and government who rallied behind the athlete
she appeared at an athletics south africa press conference on wednesday to
announced the yellow pages series but did not say anything the organisation
board was suspended last year amid an outcry over its handling of the saga
alert
korea proposes talks on resuming cross border tours
iraq sentences men to death over baghdad bombings
baghdad jan afp
an iraqi court thursday sentenced to death men including al qaeda militants
over devastating truck bombs in baghdad that killed more than people in
august and dealt harsh blow to the government
the trial was the first to convict suspects arrested in the wake of three major
attacks in the second half of that saw insurgents defy the war torn
country fledgling security forces and penetrate the heart of the capital
they are sentenced to death for the crime they planned ali abdul sattar
president of the criminal court said at hearing in the iraqi capital
the august attacks just minutes apart outside the ministries of finance and
foreign affairs caused massive destruction killed people and wounded around
others
those convicted included salim abed jassim who confessed that he received
funding for the attacks from brigadier general nabil abdul rahman senior army
officer during the rule of saddam hussein now living in syria
also sentenced to death by hanging were ishaq mohammed abbas an al qaeda in
iraq leader and his brother mustapha the court official told afp
both men had once been detained but were later released from camp bucca now
closed us run prison in the southern city of basra
these men were the brains behind the attacks in august security official
involved in an investigation into the august attacks told afp on condition of
anonymity
the others bought the explosives and transported them into baghdad he added
the august truck attacks on what was dubbed black wednesday marked iraq
worst day of violence in months and prompted outrage among citizens at how
the bombers had been able to commit such atrocities
the government which blamed the bombings on al qaeda and saddam loyalists from
the executed dictator outlawed baath party admitted at the time that
negligence at checkpoints allowed the attackers to enter the capital
despite outrage over the august atrocities bombers managed to commit similar
carnage in october and december when they again struck government buildings in
attacks that killed at least people and wounded more
the attacks were severe blow to prime minister nuri al maliki largely
successful efforts to portray himself as guardian of security ahead of
nationwide parliamentary elections now scheduled for march
violence in iraq dropped dramatically in to its lowest level since the
invasion figures showed on january but monitoring group warned that
security gains were levelling off
according to an afp tally of figures released by the defence interior and
health ministries total of civilians were killed by violence last year
less than half of toll of
iraq body count ibc an independent britain based group however put the
civilians toll at and said while there had been significant improvements
in security in such violence still afflicts iraq population more than
any other
the second half of saw around the same number of civilian deaths as the
first which ibc said may indicate that the situation is no longer improving
haiti quake shatters country fragile recovery
washington jan afp
the fierce earthquake that hit haiti causing massive destruction and loss of
life may also have shattered the destitute country fragile recovery experts
have warned
it not only unprecedented damage and destruction but it has abruptly stopped
what seemed to be lot of momentum said bob perito an expert on post
conflict peace at the us institute for peace
the earthquake the worst to hit haiti in over century may have killed as
many as people according to prime minister jean max bellerive
it left the capital port au prince in ruins with some of the city sturdiest
structures including the presidential palace ministries and office buildings
damaged beyond repair
after history scarred by political violence and natural disasters including
hurricanes and flooding haiti future had started to look brighter
there was so much hope about haiti future hope that had not been present for
years and along comes mother nature and just flattens it said secretary of
state hillary clinton
the top us diplomat knows haiti well and her husband former president bill
clinton serves as un special envoy to the caribbean nation
he stressed in thursday washington post that haiti had begun to turn corner
with international aid groups foreign governments and ngos committing to plans
for long term development
these efforts will need to be amended because of tuesday disaster but they
cannot be abandoned bill clinton wrote
before the earthquake believed that haiti was closer than ever to securing
bright future despite this tragedy still believe that haiti can succeed
perito said that before the disaster people could feel that things were getting
better
the economy had begun to show some positive growth or percent
there were some new investments coming in hotel chain had announced that
they would build new hotel new investments in the textile industry he told
afp
in september haiti suffered through four massive storms that killed
people and caused billions of dollars of damage
in response to that the un had led the international community to provide
lot of money and rather enthusiastic response to rebuild haiti perito said
he warned the psychological impact of the quake is going to be very severe
in the short term it would likely make it impossible to hold legislative
elections planned for february or presidential elections scheduled for
phil nieburg an expert on natural disasters at the center for strategic
international studies in washington said the long term consequences for haiti
would depend on the damage to its critical infrastructure
noting that haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere he warned
that if the port is destroyed as someone told me there won be elevators to
unload ships for weeks or months
in the next six months serious challenge will be dealing with the displaced
people of the disaster added robert maguire haiti specialist at trinity
university in washington
he said the catastrophic scenes in the haitian capital were partly the result of
dangerous overcrowding in port au prince
this tragedy illustrates the need to decentralize more the investment and
people in haiti he told afp
lack of investment in rural areas helped lead to an overcrowded port au prince
which became an unsustainable ecosystem with people piling on top of each
other maguire said
to change that would have cost lot of money yesterday he added now the
cost will be much worse
maguire nonetheless held out hope that international aid flooding to the nation
would be used to tackle the overcrowding
haiti has population of over nine million people and some two million people
live in port au prince
haiti quake shatters country fragile recovery
washington jan afp
the fierce earthquake that hit haiti causing massive destruction and loss of
life may also have shattered the destitute country fragile recovery experts
have warned
it not only unprecedented damage and destruction but it has abruptly stopped
what seemed to be lot of momentum said bob perito an expert on post
conflict peace at the us institute for peace
the earthquake the worst to hit haiti in over century may have killed as
many as people according to prime minister jean max bellerive
it left the capital port au prince in ruins with some of the city sturdiest
structures including the presidential palace ministries and office buildings
damaged beyond repair
after history scarred by political violence and natural disasters including
hurricanes and flooding haiti future had started to look brighter
there was so much hope about haiti future hope that had not been present for
years and along comes mother nature and just flattens it said secretary of
state hillary clinton
the top us diplomat knows haiti well and her husband former president bill
clinton serves as un special envoy to the caribbean nation
he stressed in thursday washington post that haiti had begun to turn corner
with international aid groups foreign governments and ngos committing to plans
for long term development
these efforts will need to be amended because of tuesday disaster but they
cannot be abandoned bill clinton wrote
before the earthquake believed that haiti was closer than ever to securing
bright future despite this tragedy still believe that haiti can succeed
perito said that before the disaster people could feel that things were getting
better
the economy had begun to show some positive growth or percent
there were some new investments coming in hotel chain had announced that
they would build new hotel new investments in the textile industry he told
afp
in september haiti suffered through four massive storms that killed
people and caused billions of dollars of damage
in response to that the un had led the international community to provide
lot of money and rather enthusiastic response to rebuild haiti perito said
he warned the psychological impact of the quake is going to be very severe
in the short term it would likely make it impossible to hold legislative
elections planned for february or presidential elections scheduled for
phil nieburg an expert on natural disasters at the center for strategic
international studies in washington said the long term consequences for haiti
would depend on the damage to its critical infrastructure
noting that haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere he warned
that if the port is destroyed as someone told me there won be elevators to
unload ships for weeks or months
in the next six months serious challenge will be dealing with the displaced
people of the disaster added robert maguire haiti specialist at trinity
university in washington
he said the catastrophic scenes in the haitian capital were partly the result of
dangerous overcrowding in port au prince
this tragedy illustrates the need to decentralize more the investment and
people in haiti he told afp
lack of investment in rural areas helped lead to an overcrowded port au prince
which became an unsustainable ecosystem with people piling on top of each
other maguire said
to change that would have cost lot of money yesterday he added now the
cost will be much worse
maguire nonetheless held out hope that international aid flooding to the nation
would be used to tackle the overcrowding
haiti has population of over nine million people and some two million people
live in port au prince
angry mourners bury slain iran nuclear scientist
tehran jan afp
angry mourners chanting anti american and anti israeli slogans joined funeral
procession thursday for the iranian nuclear scientist killed in bomb attack
tehran blames on the us and israel
an afp correspondent said that some people thronged the house in an
affluent north tehran neighbourhood of massoud ali mohammadi who died tuesday
when booby trapped motorbike exploded as he was leaving home
around policemen were deployed in the area
relatives and members of the elite revolutionary guards placed the body of ali
mohammadi particle physics professor at prestigious tehran university in an
ambulance which then took off for the burial at nearby shrine
military marching band led the procession to the shrine followed by hundreds
of mourners many of whom were chanting death to israel and death to america
mourners also chanted slogans against the so called hypocrites the islamic
republic term for the outlawed people mujahedeen
some chanted nuclear energy is our undeniable right in an allusion to
accusations by iranian officials the killing was an attempt by western powers to
disrupt iran controversial nuclear programme
people close to ali mohammadi have stressed his close links with the elite
revolutionary guards where he seems to have worked for more than years until
neither the police nor the intelligence services have yet reported any leads in
their investigation but several top officials have pointed an accusing finger at
the cia and israel mossad spy agency
on thursday the media advisor to president mahmoud ahmadinejad told afp that the
united states britain and israel were high on the list of suspects
our security and intelligence apparatus are pursuing those behind the blast to
bring them to justice as soon as possible said ali akbar javanfekr
america britain and israel have the most animosity towards our scientific
progress especially the nuclear programme so when our scientists are targetted
they become high on the list of suspects he said
similar allegations by other iranian officials of us involvement in the attack
have been dismissed out of hand by washington
parliament speaker ali larijani iran former chief nuclear negotiator on
wednesday accused us president barack obama of state terrorism over the killing
but foreign minister manouchehr mottaki has stopped short of explicitly accusing
washington of being behind the bombing
the action taken by the enemies of logic justice humanity and the iranian
people is being investigated by relevant authorities mottaki said when asked
about accusations of us and israeli involvement
us firms in china worried about security after google attack
beijing jan afp
us companies in china are worried about the security of commercial
correspondence business group said thursday after internet giant google said
china based cyberspies had attacked their systems
while not mentioning google by name the american chamber of commerce in china
amcham said preliminary survey results showed members are concerned about
the security of commercial correspondence data and networks
yet the us companies surveyed by amcham said they remained optimistic about the
prospects for china over both the medium and long term amcham said in
statement in response to questions posed by afp
the statement did not say when the business climate survey was conducted
google vowed tuesday to stop bowing to chinese internet censors and risk
banishment from the lucrative market in protest against highly sophisticated
cyberattacks aimed at chinese human rights activists
the china based hackers struck google and reportedly more than other firms in
an apparent bid for computer source codes intellectual property and
information about human rights activists around the world
amcham said the free flow of information protection of intellectual property
rights and uniform application of the law facilitates commercial activity for
both chinese and foreign companies
the group encouraged all parties including the us and chinese governments to
work toward these objectives
tennis zvonareva to defend pattaya title
bangkok jan afp
russian world number nine vera zvonareva will defend her title at the pattaya
open in thailand next month organisers said thursday
the line up will also include her compatriots maria kirilenko and anna
chakvetadze together with rising star sabine lisicki of germany last year
indian finalist sania mirza and veteran jelena dokic of australia
the dollar tournament will be held from february in the seaside
resort of pattaya
lawn tennis association of thailand president suwat liptapanlop said he hoped
the event and others like it would restore investor confidence in the country
after years of political turmoil
we need to restore confidence in the country it will help improve the economic
situation he said
thousands of protesters loyal to ousted thai premier thaksin shinawatra last
april stormed pattaya hotel as it hosted major summit of asian leaders
forcing the cancellation of the meeting
cricket england bat in final test
johannesburg jan afp
england won the toss and decided to bat in the fourth and final test against
south africa at the wanderers stadium here on thursday
england leading the series brought in left arm swing bowler ryan
sidebottom in place of fast bowler graham onions who as number eleven batsman
batted out the final over in both the first and third tests
south africa named two new caps in left arm fast bowler wayne parnell who
replaced the injured friedel de wet and seam bowling all rounder ryan mclaren
who was selected ahead of left arm spinner paul harris
the pitch was expected to provide some help for the fast bowlers there was some
cloud building up and the possibility of thundershowers later in the day
teams
south africa graeme smith captain ashwell prince hashim amla jacques
kallis ab de villiers jp duminy mark boucher wkt ryan mclaren dale steyn
morne morkel wayne parnell
england andrew strauss captain alastair cook jonathan trott kevin
pietersen paul collingwood ian bell matt prior wkt stuart broad graeme
swann james anderson ryan sidebottom
umpires steve davis aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire daryl harper aus
match referee roshan mahanama sri
oil rebounds above dollars
london jan afp
world oil prices rebounded above dollars on thursday after heavy losses
sustained the previous day on signs of weakening energy demand in the united
states traders said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
rose cents to dollars per barrel
the contract had shed dollars in new york on wednesday after plumbing an
intraday low of
london brent north sea crude for february gained cents to dollars per
barrel in morning deals on thursday
analysts said the sharp fall in prices on wednesday was triggered by the key us
department of energy doe report which showed crude oil reserves surged by
million barrels in the week ending january
that was far more than most analyst expectations of gain of million
barrels
distillates including heating fuel and diesel rose by million barrels
the doe said confounding forecasts of million barrel drop
distillates are in the market focus amid an ongoing cold snap in the united
states forecasters have predicted milder weather for the weeks ahead
the united states is the world biggest energy consuming nation and its usage
influences oil prices
however the doe report was not all that pessimistic said serene lim an oil
analyst with anz bank in melbourne adding that it indicated demand could soon
pick up
the refinery inputs were up for most of the areas and the refineries were
operating at slightly higher rate than the past month lim said
yemen clerics call for jihad in case of foreign intervention
sanaa jan afp
yemen council of clerics called thursday for jihad or holy war in case of
foreign military intervention amid speculation the united states might join
sanaa pursuit of al qaeda extremists
if any party insists on aggression or invading the country then according to
islam jihad becomes obligatory said statement signed by clerics read at
media conference
they stressed also strong rejection to any foreign intervention in yemeni
affairs whether political or militarily
the clerics including the radical sheikh abdulmajeed al zendani who is labeled
by the us administration as global terrorist also voiced rejection to any
security or military agreement or cooperation between yemen and any foreign
party if it violates islamic sharia law
they also strongly rejected setting up any military bases in yemen or in its
territorial waters
the chairman of the us senate armed services committee carl levin on wednesday
urged his country administration to consider targeting al qaeda militants in
yemen with armed drones air strikes or convert operation but not to invade the
country
most options ought to be on the table short of invasion by us forces the
democratic lawmaker from michigan said
al qaeda franchise in yemen al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap has
claimed responsibility for the botched christmas day attack on us airliner
and washington has accused the group of training the assailant nigerian umar
farouk abdulmutallab
zendani on monday warned that any us military intervention in yemen to fight al
qaeda would be considered an occupation
the yemeni government has intensified its operations against al qaeda insisting
that it can tackle the militants on its own without the need for foreign
military intervention
yemen is not afghanistan nor pakistan where terrorists constantly launch
attacks while the authorities try to respond here we anticipate the threat
yemen is not hideout for the terrorists and will never be yemen head of
national security ali anisi said wednesday
the arabian peninsula country is under pressure to rein in the extremists with
the united states and britain announcing plans to fund the country police
counter terrorism unit
but us president barack obama has said he has no intention of sending american
troops to yemen or to somalia in the horn of africa just across the bab al
mandab strait
korea signs deal to build nuclear reactor in jordan
seoul jan afp
south korean consortium has signed contract to build jordan first atomic
research reactor following landmark billion dollar deal with the united
arab emirates officials said thursday
the contract estimated at billion won million dollars called for the
consortium to build five megawatt reactor in jordan by the science
ministry said
jordan will use the reactor for scientific research before introducing its own
nuclear power plants it said
the deal came two weeks after another south korean consortium led by state
utility korea electric power corp kepco won contract to build four nuclear
power plants in the united arab emirates
the kepco consortium won the deal against competition from two rival groups that
included consortium of french companies and another composed of the us company
general electric and japan hitachi
officials said the uae order would make south korea the world sixth nation to
export commercial nuclear reactors and spur future overseas sales of nuclear
technology
south korea with few natural energy sources operates commercial reactors to
provide percent of its electricity needs
national hockey league results
washington jan afp
national hockey league results and standings after wednesday games
wednesday january th results
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