seoul jan afp
north korea said monday it wants peace treaty with the united states as
precondition for giving up its nuclear weapons and called for sanctions to be
scrapped before it returns to disarmament talks
the foreign ministry statement was the first time the north has publicly stated
its position on the disarmament negotiations since us envoy stephen bosworth
visited pyongyang last month
bosworth was trying to persuade the communist state to return to the six nation
talks it abandoned last april month before staging second nuclear test no
clear agreement was reached
the statement said it was good to move up the order of action in light of the
failure of the six party talks
the conclusion of the peace treaty will help terminate the hostile relations
between the dprk north korea and the us and positively promote the
denuclearisation of the korean peninsula at rapid tempo it said
six party agreements reached in and envisage talks on treaty to
formally end the korean war but only in return for full
denuclearisation
the north said talks on peace pact could be held either at separate forum or
in the framework of the six party talks which group the two koreas the united
states china russia and japan
the removal of the barrier of such discrimination and distrust as sanctions may
soon lead to the opening of the six party talks its statement said
jkw sm jw
dollar dips in asia on weak us jobs report
singapore jan afp
the dollar slipped in asian trade monday after weaker than expected us jobs
report dashed expectations for quick recovery from recession in the world
biggest economy analysts said
data from the us labor department released friday showed loss of jobs
in december dampening hopes for return to positive job growth that could lead
to hike in us interest rates and support the greenback
the labor department report on nonfarm payrolls was far worse than the consensus
expectation for no change in overall employment levels
the dollar stood at yen in mid afternoon trade down from yen in new
york trading late friday
the euro also climbed to dollars from and fetched yen from
financial markets in japan were closed monday for public holiday
singapore dbs bank described the us jobs report as disappointing and said it
has the potential to set the tone for the us dollar to give back its gains
it added that difficult us jobs recovery should keep the hawks at bay and
keep the us dollar attractive as funding currency
patrick bennett forex strategist with french bank societe generale said the
us report delivered dose of reality to the market
the us dollar is softer and risk appetite is back in vogue he said
although the dollar has in recent months gained on risk aversion in times of
financial market turmoil traders were focusing on the implications of the jobs
report for interest rates with the us federal reserve main rate still near
zero
the unemployment rate held at percent but also reflected large number of
people dropping out of the workforce
us president barack obama said the jobs figures are reminder that the road to
recovery is never straight and that we have to continue to work every single day
to get our economy moving again
the dollar also tumbled against other asian currencies falling to
singapore dollars from on friday to thai baht from and to
philippine pesos from
it was down to indonesian rupiah from to taiwan
dollars from and to south korean won from
rugbyl australian test centre hodges faces long lay off
sydney jan afp
australian test centre justin hodges is facing up to six months on the sidelines
after rupturing his achilles tendon during national rugby league pre season
training brisbane broncos said on monday
hodges will undergo surgery on tuesday to repair the damage which was
suffered after he stepped into hole while taking part in team conditioning
drill on saturday broncos coach ivan henjak said
henjak said club medical staff would not know the full extent of the damage
until after the surgery is completed but it appears hodges would be lucky to
get back on the park before the second half of the nrl season
it not real flash for us but the positive is that it happened in the pre
season and we ve got plenty of time to look to all the options henjak told
reporters
we ve got three pre season trials to work things out
football belgian defender collen signs for brisbane
sydney jan afp
brisbane roar have boosted their defensive options with the signing of
experienced belgian centre back pieter collen until the end of the australian
league season the club said on monday
collen who played twice for belgium fills the void in the heart of the
brisbane defence created by the loss of australian international craig moore
who signed for greek super league club ao kavala last week
collen has spent years in the top leagues of belgium and the netherlands
with nec nijmegen feyenoord rotterdam nac breda and ksk beveren
have played uefa champions league and uefa cup and have two caps one
friendly and one european qualification match collen said in club statement
so hope to bring some experience and good organisation in the back
brisbane coach ange postecoglou said collen had signed contract to the end of
the season and should both parties be happy his contract may be extended
qaeda threatens to execute french hostage in mali
hong kong jan afp
the north african branch of al qaeda threatened to execute french hostage
unless four of its militants are freed from jail in mali in days two us
monitoring groups said on monday
al qaeda in the islamic maghreb aqim claimed last month it was holding
frenchman pierre camatte who was seized in mali in late november as well as
three spaniards kidnapped in neighbouring mauritania four days later
us groups site intelligence group and intelcenter which monitor islamist
websites said al qaeda issued its ultimatum in statement dated january
the mujahedeen have decided to inform the french and malian governments of
their only demand to release the french hostage pierre camatte the release of
our four prisoners apprehended by the state of mali many months ago
intelcenter said in statement
let france and mali be forewarned that we give days to fulfill our just
demand or the two governments shall be fully responsible for the life of the
french hostage it said
we also call upon the french public opinion and the hostage family to
pressure french president nicolas sarkozy government to prevent the
repetition of british prime minister gordon brown folly against his british
citizen
aqim had claimed responsibility for the killing of british hostage edwin dyer
who was executed in june six months after being kidnapped in niger near the
mali border
camatte was snatched from hotel in menaka in the sahel region of northern
mali more than kilometres miles from the capital bamako during
the night of november
malian and western security forces say the frenchman regular visitor to mali
where he cultivates plant known for its anti malaria properties is being held
by hardline faction within al qaeda north african branch
aqim claimed in video released by pan arab television station al jazeera in
december that it was holding the four europeans
the three spanish volunteers two men and women were travelling in mauritania
in convoy delivering humanitarian aid to west africa when they were kidnapped
on november
they have been identified as albert vilalta alicia gamez and roque
pascual working on behalf of spanish group barcelona accio solidaria
spain el mundo newspaper reported last month that aqim was demanding seven
million dollars and the release of several of its members in return for the
three spaniards
mali security source said last month that the hostages were being held by
hardline faction of aqim led by man called abou zeid who was said to have
been behind the killing of the briton
aqim has also claimed responsibility for the abduction of two italians in
mauritania on december and posted pictures on the internet of the hostages
sergio cicala and philomene kabore
three charged over australian stockbroker collapse
sydney jan afp
australia corporate regulator said monday it had charged three former
directors of the failed melbourne stockbroking group opes prime with breaching
their duties
the australian securities and investments commission asic said directors lirim
laurie emini julian smith and anthony blumberg had been charged and ordered
to appear in the melbourne magistrates court later this month
emini smith and blumberg have each been charged with two offences of breaching
their duties as directors of opsl and two offences of breaching their duties as
directors of opes prime group limited opgl asic said
opes prime stockbroking limited opsl one of australia most high profile
collapses of the global financial crisis was placed in administration in march
owing creditors million dollars million us
in statement asic alleged that the opes prime directors were intentionally
dishonest and failed to exercise their powers and discharge their duties in good
faith in the best interests of their companies
it is further alleged that messieurs emini smith and blumberg dishonestly used
their position as directors of opgl and opsl with the intention of directly or
indirectly gaining an advantage for themselves or for someone else it added
each offence carries maximum penalty of five years imprisonment
china hunts for missing after boat collision state media
beijing jan afp
china has launched major search operation for people missing after two
vessels collided off the country southeastern coast state run xinhua news
agency said monday
the accident occurred saturday when freighter and fishing boat collided off
fujian province causing the latter vessel to sink
two of the fishing boat crew were rescued after the accident while one was
confirmed dead xinhua said
xinhua quoted one of the surviving fishermen as saying the freighter struck
their vessel which quickly capsized and sank
helicopter and vessels have been mobilised for the rescue effort the
agency said quoting maritime official in the city of putian located near the
scene of the accident
we have people involved in the search at sea and people combing the sea
and small islets the official identified only by his surname chen was quoted
as saying
those missing were not wearing life jackets at the time of the accident xinhua
said it quoted police as saying there was little chance the missing were still
alive unless they made it to one of the small islands on the coast
at least five dead in mexico helicopter crash
mexico city jan afp
at least five people including prominent mexican businessman were killed
late sunday when their helicopter crashed in the country capital officials
said
the victims included businessman moises saba two members of his family yet
unidentified woman and the pilot the head of mexico city civil protection
secretariat elias moreno brizuela told reporters
there could be sixth person among the dead but at this moment we don know
who that might be brizuela said
the crash occurred at about gmt monday when the helicopter was flying in
the fog from the nearby city of toluca to the mexican capital
it is believed the pilot may have been reducing altitude to escape the fog and
crashed into building on the side of mountain
saba year old business mogul and prominent member of the mexican jewish
community had interests in various sectors of the country economy including
textiles real estate trade and telecommunications
he also owned an israeli television channel
korea seeks us peace pact before scrapping nukes
seoul jan afp
north korea said monday it wants to sign peace treaty with the united states
before giving up its nuclear weapons and called for sanctions to be scrapped
before any new disarmament talks
the foreign ministry statement on official media was the first time the north
has publicly stated its position since us envoy stephen bosworth visited
pyongyang last month
malaysia defends stance on allah row amid fresh attack
kuala lumpur jan afp
malaysia on monday defended its refusal to allow non muslims to use the word
allah as dispute over the issue saw ninth church attacked in spate of
fire bombings and vandalism
the sidang injil borneo church in the central state of negri sembilan was the
latest to be targeted amid anger over court decision to overrule government
ban on malaysia minorities using allah as translation for god
the church attacks which erupted last friday have sent tensions soaring in the
multicultural nation where the muslim malay majority lives alongside ethnic
chinese and indian communities
home ministry secretary general mahmood adam who briefed foreign diplomats on
the crisis monday said they had asked why the term was off limits when it is
widely used by christians in indonesia and the middle east
they don understand the situation here they just want to know why it can be
allowed in other countries and not here he told reporters
be fair you have to compare apples to apples oranges to oranges our
landscape is different from other countries malays here are different from
muslims in other countries
the landscape here is different from indonesia so we can compare he said
the row flared after the high court on december ruled in favour of the
catholic newspaper the herald which argued for the right to use allah in its
malay language section
malaysia christians say they have used the word without incident for
centuries but the ruling party which is vying for popularity among muslims
with the opposition islamic party insists it must be used only by muslims
it argues that the use of allah by christians could cause confusion among
muslims and encourage religious conversion which is illegal in malaysia
the ruling in the catholic newspaper favour was suspended last week pending an
appeal after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict
since friday churches have been pelted with molotov cocktails splashed with
black paint and had windows smashed with stones triggering tighter security at
places of worship nationwide
deputy state police chief abdul manan mohamad hassan confirmed monday attack
on the sidang injil borneo church which conducts services in the national
language malay
this morning was alerted by church member who saw the door of the church
had been burnt senior pastor eddy marson yasir told afp it was very smoky
inside the building but we are lucky that the fire didn spread
we have been using the word allah during the service as most our church
members speak the malay language he said of the strong congregation which
mostly hails from the eastern states of sabah and sarawak on borneo island
despite the series of attacks thousands of malaysian christians flocked to
churches for weekly services sunday
prime minister najib razak has called for calm and said the government will not
tolerate any threat to racial harmony
mahmood from the home ministry reiterated the government condemnation of the
church attacks and said malaysia would do all in our power to protect
religious freedom
these were not just attacks on houses of worship they were attacks on the
values and freedoms all malaysians share he said
the row is one of string of religious disputes in recent years that have
strained relations between muslim malays and ethnic chinese and indians who fear
the country is being islamised
about nine percent of malaysia million people are christians including
some catholics more than half of malaysia catholics are from
indigenous groups mostly from borneo and who mainly speak malay
urgent korea says nuclear talks could resume if sanctions lifted
seoul jan afp
north korea said monday it could soon return to stalled six nation nuclear
disarmament talks if sanctions were lifted
taiwan central bank wants to curb china funds official
taipei jan afp
taiwan central bank is pushing for curbs to be imposed on the amount of
chinese capital that can be placed in local stocks hoping to stem the inflow of
speculative funds an official said monday
the financial supervisory commission which has the authority to set limits on
chinese funds has been approached by central bank officials eager to keep
controls tight said lu ting chieh the commission chief secretary
the central bank has expressed the hope to us that we will cut the investment
amount lu told afp
chinese institutional investments in stocks are expected soon after january
when three financial memoranda signed by taipei and beijing in november take
effect
among the memoranda is one that for the first time allows chinese investors to
place funds in taiwan stock markets
the commission had initially set the maximum for chinese institutional
investments at an overall total of one billion us dollars but the central
bank recent approaches indicate it considers this amount too large
the taipei based economic daily news reported monday the central bank move to
cut the investment amount aims to curb market speculation amid fears that
massive entry of foreign funds will destabilise the taiwan dollar
karzai new cabinet seen as return to patronage politics
kabul jan afp
afghan president hamid karzai second attempt to form cabinet has raised
concerns of return to patronage politics with batch of largely unknown
figures who appear to come with useful connections
analysts said many of the new names submitted saturday for parliament approval
to replace nominees rejected by lawmakers earlier this month have
little or no experience in government raising the risk of failure
karzai is battling to form functioning government and end political crisis
in the war ravaged nation that has dragged on since he was returned to power in
fraud tainted presidential election in august
the president last week ordered parliament to cancel its winter recess to
consider new nominations after it threw out of his original choices in
january vote
sixteen new nominees presented themselves to parliament on saturday including
proposed foreign minister zalmi rasool and lawmakers will grill them this week
before secret ballot likely next week
another two names will be put forward in the coming days for the water and power
and telecommunications ministries vice president mohammad karim khallili said
most of these guys are unknown to the afghan people said analyst haroun mir
noting that many nominees are aligned with warlords and minor political parties
that supported karzai in the election
mir director of afghanistan centre for research and policy studies said no
one who had delivered karzai regional or ethnic blocs of votes had been left
out in what appeared to be return to the politics of reward for support
karzai wants to survive and survival means for him no organised opposition so
no one is left out of the government from the traditional groups and parties
he said
parliament initial rejection of names was seen as huge blow to the us
backed leader who is under enormous pressure to prove his commitment to clean
and competent government in return for ongoing western support to rebuild the
country and fight taliban insurgents
diplomats said karzai wants functioning government in place ahead of an
international conference in london on january to discuss road map for the
country future
the new list includes three women after the sole female nominee was initially
rejected but analysts said political connections and not competence appeared to
be the main qualification for many in the new line up
other nominees have links to powerful warlords who helped karzai in the august
election analysts said
at least one is aligned with feared uzbek warlord general abdul rashid dostam
two are associated with former president and warlord burhanuddin rabbani and
several with haji mohammad mohaqiq an ethnic hazara former militia leader
also on the list is economy portfolio nominee abdul hadi arghandiwal former
member of hizb islami who now leads pro government wing of the moderate
islamist party
when you look at connections some of them have to warlords islamist parties or
plain old crooks it really does look like return to the bad old days of
rewarding your mates with lucrative government job western diplomat said
on condition of anonymity
analysts said that while the new nominees represent cross section of
afghanistan ethnic mix of pashtun uzbek tajik and hazara the common thread
was lack of experience
there are people among them who represent different groups and individuals
said kabul university law professor nasrullah stanikzai
if these people do not give up their factional loyalties this could be big
problem for karzai if they give up on their loyalties and work as team loyal
to karzai things will be fine but don think that going to happen
mir also said that proposed counter narcotics minister zarar ahmad muqbel had
reputation for bureaucratic weakness
he has already proven to be weak when he was interior minister he was one of
the weak ministers in the past and don expect him to do any better in the
new job mir said
muqbel served briefly as interior minister until being replaced in late
under pressure from karzai western allies by mohammad hanif atmar who has few
powerful backers but is regarded as success
un official who asked not to be named said that as interior minister muqbel
had totally failed the ministry overseeing rise in crime to record levels
afghanistan is the world biggest opium grower supplying more than percent
of the globe illicit drugs which the country western allies spend hundreds
of millions of dollar every year to eradicate
afp graphics advisory
paris jan afp
monday graphics
malaysia church attacks
map of malaysia locating states where attacks on nine churches have occurred
since friday
text slug malaysia religion catholic church attack
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available by gmt
malaysia demographics
graphic on ethnicity and religion in malaysia
text slug malaysia religion catholic church attack
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available by gmt
mali french hostage
map showing mali where the north african branch of al qaeda is holding
french hostage it plans to execute unless its demands are met according to us
monitoring groups monday also shows neighbouring mauritania where the same
group is holding three kidnapped spaniards
text slug mali france spain kidnap qaeda
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available by gmt
uae torture case
fact file on the court case in the united arab emirates uae that led to an
acquittal sunday of uae president brother sheikh issa bin zayed al nahayan
accused of torturing an afghan merchant in
text slug uae rights torture
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available now
israel air strike
map locating deir el balah in gaza where israeli warplanes killed three islamic
jihad gunmen in an air strike sunday
text slug mideast conflict gaza
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available by gmt
us drones
fact file on the predator drone used by the us against suspected terrorists in
afghanistan and pakistan
text slug us afghanistan cia qaeda intelligence
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available by gmt
fbl africa cup
graphic showing groupings and fixtures of the africa cup of nations from
january
text slug violence angola togo fbl afr
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available now
asia pacific markets
closings for key asia pacific markets
text slug stocks
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available by gmt
moved earlier
afghanistan journalist killed
map of afghanistan locating death of uk journalist in nawa helmand province
text slug britain afghanistan us military
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russia dagestan makhachkala map mm
yemen oil sector mm
africa cabinda map mm
afric presentation mm
tennis graphics
australia open venue mm
australia open women mm
australia open men mm
hawkeye factfile mm
paris hong kong
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urgent pyongyang seeks talks on korean peace pact
seoul jan afp
north korea called monday for early talks on permanent peace pact to replace
the armistice that ended the korean war official media reported
hospital in china wrongly declares man dead state media
beijing jan afp
hospital in southwest china prematurely sent man injured in motorcycle
crash to the mortuary prompting outrage from his family who found him alive in
coffin state media reported
zhang houming was found breathing and with faint heart beat in his iced
coffin at mortuary in the city of neijiang in sichuan province on friday last
week the global times reported
his shocked family called doctors and summoned an ambulance but zhang died an
hour later at the hospital it said
the family is seeking million yuan dollars in compensation for the
botched diagnosis the report said
zhang had been pronounced dead at the scene of the accident by medical personnel
sent by neijiang chinese medical hospital who recorded that the patient
heartbeat and breathing had stopped the paper said
zhang was sent straight to the mortuary it added
it very likely that zhang heart was in shock during the doctor check but
his heartbeat revived during the transportation the paper quoted neijiang
city official as saying
alert
korea says six party nuclear talks could resume if sanctions lifted kcna
tennis hobart international results st update
hobart australia jan afp
results from the second day of the hobart international women tennis
tournament here monday denotes seed
first round
kirsten flipkens bel bt sophie ferguson aus
carla suarez navarro esp bt yaroslava shvedova kaz
gisela dulko arg bt melinda czink hun
sara errani ita bt melanie oudin usa
kaia kanepi est bt zheng jie chn
tamira paszek aut bt roberta vinci ita
jelena dokic aus bt elena baltacha gbr
alla kudryavtseva rus bt ekaterina makarova rus
shahar peer isr bt olivia rogowska aus
alert
pyongyang proposes early talks on korea peace treaty kcna
china businessman under fire for yale donation
beijing jan afp
chinese businessman huge donation to his yale university graduate school has
sparked nationalist tinged web backlash with some calling him traitor for
not giving the cash to school in china
however many other web postings and chinese media commentaries have come to the
defence of zhang lei over his dollar donation saying universities in
china were not worthy of such largesse
zhang who previously attended renmin university in beijing before his graduate
business studies at yale said he donated the money because the ivy league
school had changed his life according to the global times newspaper
the paper website first reported the gift on friday zhang chose the sum
because eight is an auspicious number in china
but his donation has not sat well with chinese users of the internet which has
become frequent forum for resurgent nationalism as the country global clout
grows
scum trash dog faeces traitor read one comment posted monday on the global
times website
the chinese education system helped you but americans have only ever given us
trouble helping them hurts china got it
zhang who hails from jiangxi province in eastern china is founder and
managing partner of beijing based fund manager hillhouse capital management he
graduated from yale in
however others lauded zhang move with one saying it amounted to silent
protest over the lamentable state of chinese universities
any money you donate in china eventually falls into the pockets of corrupt
officials donating the money where it will help is wise said another global
times reader
china university system has been the target of growing criticism in recent
years amid various corruption cases reports of fake degrees being awarded and
charges that schools were not preparing graduates for the work force
what does china education system give graduates unemployment and bogus
degrees said commentary on the website of china national radio that urged
the public not to be so hasty in criticising zhang
thaksin supporters rally at thai royal aide house
bangkok jan afp
