injuries disaster officials said
the national disaster management office said it was possible that thousands of
people could be homeless but an exact assessment could not be made until ground
parties were able to reach remote islands on tuesday
the us geological survey said the epicentre was kilometres miles from
the earthquake prone island town of gizo in the western pacific archipelago and
local officials said it triggered small tsunami
it was the largest of swarm of tremors centred on the area ignited by
magnitude quake on monday morning and with eight strong aftershocks between
magnitude and over the following hours
there are homes that have been affected but not all have been totally
destroyed disaster management office spokesman julian makaa told afp after
officials took reconnaissance flight over remote islands near the epicentre
the average home in the solomon islands would house four to five people
patrol boat carrying water food and tarpaulins was dispatched from the
capital honiara for the worst affected areas of rendova island and marova lagoon
about kilometres miles away makaa said
the earthquake caused small wave and few people suffered minor injuries as
they ran away from the shore in panic makaa said
the disaster management office had also received radio reports that some
tourists received minor injuries on the conservation island of tetepare and
there were houses destroyed at marovo lagoon both near rendova
patrol boat will be sent to the area with water food and tarpaulins as
precaution makaa said adding residents on the outer islands have been warned
to remain alert for sea and tide fluctuations as aftershocks continue
an magnitude earthquake in the same area nearly three years ago killed
people destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands
the hawaii based tsunami warning centre said the latest earthquake was powerful
enough to have been destructive along coasts near the epicentre but there was no
wider threat
no tsunami threat exists for other coastal areas in the pacific although some
other areas may experience small non destructive sea level changes lasting up
to several hours the centre said in bulletin
gizo on ghizo island is the second largest town in the solomon islands with
population of around
it is about kilometres northwest of honiara which lies on the island of
guadalcanal where residents said they felt shakes but there was no damage
geoscience australia seismologist clive collins said the main quake which was
estimated at magnitude by australian seismologists was probably about
kilometres from the nearest land
further south in earthquake prone new zealand tremors of and were
recorded over the past hours there was another earthquake of off the
coast of tonga but there were no reports of damage
like much of the pacific the solomons regularly experiences large earthquakes
and lies on the pacific ring of fire which generates most of the world major
tremors
gizo harbour lost most of it wharves and jetties in the quake and
subsequent tsunami which was officially put at five metres high but with some
reports of metre high wall of water
on september last year devastating tsunami swept along coasts in the
pacific islands of samoa and tonga killing people and wiping out entire
villages
villages and resorts in samoa american samoa and northern tonga were flattened
by the giant waves generated by the massive earthquake the strongest in
nearly century
top china dissident appeals subversion conviction lawyer
beijing jan afp
leading chinese dissident liu xiaobo has appealed his conviction on subversion
charges but is holding out only faint hopes that his year prison term will be
overturned his lawyer said monday
liu xiaobo directly handed his appeal over to the court on december his
lawyer shang baojun told afp
after considering his case he decided to make the appeal effort but he
understands that there is not big chance that the verdict will be changed
liu was convicted by beijing court on christmas day and sentenced to years
in prison for subversion prompting condemnation from the united states the
european union and other western governments
taiwan hopes us arms sales will go on despite beef dispute
taipei jan afp
taiwan said monday it hoped the united states would continue its arms sales
despite friction over likely decision by the island to resume ban on some us
beef imports
we hope the unites states will keep offering defensive weapons to the republic
of china defence ministry spokesman yu sy tue told afp referring to taiwan by
its official name
he was commenting on reports that washington may halt arms sales to taipei if
taiwan parliament votes tuesday to amend law on food health to ban imports
of us cow organs minced beef and other items considered high risk
the taipei based liberty times last week cited an unnamed official as saying the
government hoped any us punitive measures would be limited to trade and not
affect arms sales
the united states has been the leading arms supplier to taiwan even after it
switched diplomatic recognition from taipei to beijing in but it has
expressed dismay at the plan for the partial beef ban
the move would partially overturn decision by the health department in october
to allow imports of us beef on the bone and cow organs which met with public
outcry
thousands of people took to the streets in taipei in november to protest saying
the government had ignored concerns over mad cow disease the common name for
bovine spongiform encephalopathy bse
some scientists believe that consumption of the brains and spinal cords of
animals infected with bse can lead to the potentially fatal creutzfeldt jakob
disease in humans
no cuts of russian oil to belarus industry spokeswoman
minsk jan afp
spokeswoman for oil refineries in belarus denied on monday reports that
russia had cut oil supplies from january raising the spectre of energy cuts
to europe
the information on cutting supplies does not correspond to reality oil is
arriving both for transit and for refineries spokeswoman for oil processor
belneftekhim told afp
both of belarus oil refineries are working normally and russian oil is
arriving on schedule the spokeswoman marina kostyuchenko said
in conflicting report belarus oil industry source told the interfax news
agency that neither refinery was receiving russian oil on monday morning
oil prices hurdled dollars barrel on the first trading day of the year
monday after media report on sunday that russia cut crude supplies to
belarussian refineries analysts said
russian officials denied the report which raised the threat of repeat of
energy crisis that saw cut in russian oil supplies to the european union
for several days
russia and belarus failed on new year eve to agree new terms on customs duty
for oil supplies for and belarussian delegation was called back to minsk
on saturday russia and belarus restarted talks to agree terms of oil supplies
led on the russian side by igor sechin prime minister vladimir putin powerful
deputy and energy official
together with kazakhstan russia and belarus have sought to create single
customs bloc but ties between the two neighbours have steadily deteriorated amid
efforts by minsk to resuscitate relations with the west
urgent top china dissident appeals subversion conviction lawyer
beijing jan afp
leading chinese dissident liu xiaobo has appealed his conviction on subversion
charges but is holding out only faint hopes that his year prison term will be
overturned his lawyer said monday
alert
top china dissident appeals subversion conviction lawyer
rbs says deal lapses to sell pakistan operations
london jan afp
state rescued lender royal bank of scotland said monday that deal to sell its
pakistan unit to mcb bank for million dollars million euros had lapsed
rbs had agreed in august to sell the operations to mcb in transaction that was
expected to be completed in the final quarter of but mcb did not manage
to gain regulatory approvals the group said in statement
the agreement with mcb provided that if the necessary regulatory approvals are
not obtained and closing of the transaction has not occurred on or by
december then the agreement and the transaction shall lapse rbs said
the necessary regulatory approvals were not obtained and closing did not
occur by december and accordingly the agreement and the transaction
have now lapsed the bank added
rbs is percent owned by the state after receiving massive bailout from the
british government amid the devastating global financial crisis
karachi listed mcb has around four million customers and operates branches
within pakistan
afp world news agenda
paris jan afp
what coming up around the world
obama confronts al qaeda plots as vacation ends
debt laden dubai opens world tallest building
washington us president barack obama due to return to the white house around
gmt after vacation in hawaii as concerns mount over alleged al qaeda
plots on us and british interests in yemen us attacks nigeria yemen
dubai the gulf emirate of dubai inaugurates the burj dubai tower the tallest
building in the world official opening at gmt uae dubai architecture
tower picture
dushanbe iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad visits tajikistan his first
international trip since bloody crackdown on opposition supporters in tehran
tajikistan iran diplomacy
sargodha pakistan five us militant suspects are remanded back into custody by
pakistani court after telling judges they wanted to help muslims in war torn
afghanistan police are seeking life imprisonment for them on charges of coming
to pakistan to carry out attacks pakistan us unrest trial
sharm el sheikh egypt palestinian president mahmud abbas in talks with
egyptian president hosni mubarak aimed at reviving the stalled middle east peace
process mideast conflict diplomacy picture
yangon myanmar marks the nd anniversary of its independence with ceremony in
the remote capital naypyidaw myanmar politics anniversary
tokyo bourse launches new trading system without hitch
tokyo jan afp
the tokyo stock exchange reported smooth start for its fast new trading system
launched monday part of efforts to stay ahead of rival asian bourses
following series of technical problems
the tse arrowhead platform its first new trading system in decade can
process orders in seconds much faster than previously and on par with
the dealing systems in new york and london
the new system competes with any other bourse in the world tse president
atsushi saito said ahead of the market opening we will do the best to keep our
position as one of the world financial centres
its launch on the first trading day of follows series of software
glitches in recent years that have hindered the exchange efforts to maintain
its status as asia top bourse
in the tse was forced to suspend trading in all shares for the first time
ever because of software problem tarnishing its reputation in the face of
growing competition from the hong kong and shanghai exchanges
the following year scandal involving internet firm livedoor co forced the
exchange to close early for the first time and shorten its trading hours for
three months after flood of sell orders threatened to crash its system
since then the tokyo exchange has been devoting resources to improving its
technology investing about billion yen million dollars in the new
trading system including operating costs for the first five years
the tse said the new system jointly developed with japanese electronics giant
fujitsu ltd aims to attract high speed traders who use algorithms to place
orders with automated software
there are increasing needs among investors to make strategic orders much faster
and in smaller lots said tse official who added that there were no reports
of any teething problems with the system on the first day
analysts said arrowhead would help the exchange to avoid falling behind overseas
rivals
the upgrade makes the tse order processing speed world class and puts it
ahead of most other asian exchanges said neil katkov senior vice president of
asia research at celent financial consulting firm
speed has become very important for professional equities trading he said
katkov said computer driven high frequency trading by hedge funds and other
players accounts for just percent of trading in japanese equities compared
with up to percent for us stocks
the tokyo exchange struggling to stem an exodus of foreign companies has
signed strategic alliances with the new york and london exchanges as it hopes to
overcome global competition
the technical problems together with financial difficulties have forced the
tse to delay its own initial public offering
just last month japanese court ordered the tse to pay compensation of
billion yen million dollars to mizuho securities over its failure to stop
massive trade blunder in december
the tse had admitted that fault in its system prevented mizuho securities
trader from cancelling the erroneous order caused by simple typing error
which left the firm saddled with loss of billion yen
the exchange operator which had been aiming to list its own shares in is
now hoping for flotation some time after april
japanese stocks hit month high monday as investors cheered weaker yen and
the government plan to expand credit line to troubled japan airlines with
the benchmark nikkei index gaining percent to points
cricket south africa england scoreboard
cape town jan afp
scores at the end of south africa first innings on the second day of the third
test between south africa and england at newlands on monday
south africa first innings overnight
smith prior anderson
prince prior anderson
amla lbw onions
kallis prior onions
de villiers strauss swann
duminy prior swann
boucher lbw broad
steyn trott anderson
morkel swann anderson
harris not out
de wet lbw anderson
extras lb nb
total overs
fall of wickets prince amla smith de villiers
duminy boucher kallis steyn morkel
bowling anderson nb onions broad
swann pietersen
england andrew strauss captain alastair cook jonathan trott kevin
pietersen paul collingwood ian bell matt prior wkt stuart broad graeme
swann james anderson graham onions
match position south africa are all out in the first innings
toss england
umpires daryl harper aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire aleem dar pak
match referee roshan mahanama sri
renault foresees percent jump in sales for
paris jan afp
france number two carmaker renault expects sales to have soared by nearly
percent in spurred by the government aid programme for the auto sector
company official said monday
we are going to make close to percent more bernard cambier renault
sales director told bfm radio
this means that we have virtually gained one percentage point in market share
in terms of cars for personal use he said
the french government launched in subsidy scheme to encourage people to
trade in their old cars for new more environmentally friendly models
french car sales overall soared by about percent last year from the
level the biggest jump since
hong kong air pollution at life threatening levels
hong kong jan afp
hong kong roadside air pollution reached life threatening levels one in every
eight days last year report said monday citing figures obtained from the
government
the roadside air pollution index recorded by the environmental protection
department showed there were days of very high pollution in the central
district last year the south china morning post said
the figure was significantly higher than days in and days in
the newspaper said
very high pollution levels with the air pollution index exceeding
can significantly aggravate the symptoms of people with heart or respiratory
illness the department said
healthy people may experience irritation to the eyes wheezing coughing and
sore throats
roadside station in the densely populated mongkok district recorded very
high pollution days last year compared to just one five years ago the report
said
in causeway bay another busy shopping and residential hub the figure is up
five fold from reaching days the report said
department spokesman said the trend could be partly attributed to unfavourable
weather conditions and that the index did not reflect the full picture
selective picking of certain range of air pollution index readings for
comparison will not give fair and comprehensive picture of how air quality
changes over the years department spokesman said in written reply to afp
however team of scientists said findings from their own research show that
the roadside pollutant levels in central were two or three times higher than the
government figures
from the findings of our study we can logically deduce that the number of
very high pollution days would be more than the government figure said
team leader chak chan acting head of the environment division at hong kong
university of science and technology
chan said their findings were more accurate because they used mobile measuring
devices while the government used stationary tools
air quality in hong kong continues to deteriorate due to emissions from the
southern chinese factory belt over hong kong northern border and local
emissions from power generators and transport
the city has been wrapped in thick blanket of haze for most days in recent
months
rbs says deal lapses to sell pakistan operations
london jan afp
state rescued lender royal bank of scotland said monday that deal to sell its
pakistan unit to mcb bank for million dollars million euros has lapsed
after failing to obtain regulatory approvals
rbs had agreed in august to sell the operations to mcb in transaction that was
expected to be completed in the final quarter of the group said in
statement
the agreement with mcb provided that if the necessary regulatory approvals are
not obtained and closing of the transaction has not occurred on or by
december then the agreement and the transaction shall lapse rbs said
the necessary regulatory approvals were not obtained and closing did not
occur by december and accordingly the agreement and the transaction
have now lapsed the bank added
turkish inflation at pct in official data
ankara jan afp
turkey inflation reached percent in in line with central bank
projections as the economy went through severe recession the state statistic
institute said monday
the consumer price index climbed by percent in december making
percent increase over year
factory gate prices rose by percent in the same period bringing the annual
rate to percent
the figures were in line with central bank projections that inflation would
undershoot the percent target and fall to around percent
the rate stood at in
the turkish economy started to slow in before officially falling into
recession in the first quarter of it contracted by percent in the
first nine months of the year
as inflation fell steadily the central bank moved to prop up the economy
slashing its benchmark interest rate several times since november from
to percent
the bank will target an inflation rate of percent in and five percent
in
eu mps postpone tehran visit after us protest
tehran jan afp
delegation of european mps has postponed visit due this week to iran the
iranian foreign ministry said on monday after storm of protest from the us
congress
state run irna news agency quoted ministry spokesman ramin mehmanparast as
saying new date for the visit will be taken by mutual agreement noting the
importance of maintaining cooperation between the two parliaments
the eu lawmakers were due to meet human rights activists as well as iranian mps
at time when iran opposition is facing government crackdown amid ongoing
protests over the disputed re election in june of president mahmoud ahmadinejad
around members of the us congress protested against the visit in letter to
the head of the european parliament jerzy buzek arguing that it came at an
inappropriate time spokeswoman for buzek told afp on friday
iranian security forces have arrested scores of opposition figures and
dissidents following fierce clashes in tehran on december between police and
protesters in which at last eight people were killed opposition websites said
iran is also facing the risk of fresh un sanctions over its nuclear drive
the european union has condemned iran crackdown on opponents of ahmadinejad
and called for the rights of protesters to be respected
last month the leaders of the european union nations expressed support for
new sanctions against iran warning that tehran refusal to negotiate over its
nuclear programme must be met with clear response
tennis hopman cup results
perth australia jan afp
results from hopman cup tennis tournament at perth burswood dome on monday
group
russia bt germany
women singles sabine lisicki ger bt elena dementieva rus
men singles igor andreev rus bt philipp kohlschreiber ger
mixed doubles elena dementieva igor andreev rus bt sabine lisicki philipp
kohlschreiber ger
france seeks talks with journalists afghan kidnappers
paris jan afp
france is trying to contact with kidnappers who seized two french journalists in
afghanistan last week foreign minister bernard kouchner said monday
we are trying to establish contact kouchner told rtl radio but am saying
very clearly we have none
the taliban militia on sunday denied that they hold the journalists from france
public television who were snatched with three afghan assistants in the
eastern province of kapisa on december
for the time being there have been no claim of responsibility he added
when there will be negotiations and there are none they will probably be
drawn out
the foreign minister said he believed the journalists were still alive based on
french knowledge of the zone where they are held
the people who are holding them may decide as is usually the case to lay low
for week or two said kouchner
he suggested that local farmers may provide information to french troops
patrolling the sector
criminal gangs and taliban insurgents have kidnapped several dozen foreigners
many of them journalists since the us led operation to tople the taliban
crises to greet obama return to washington
honolulu hawaii jan afp
us president barack obama wrapped up his hawaiian vacation and headed back
monday to washington where he will have to grapple with resurgent fears of
terror attack and iran nuclear defiance
air force one left the islands with the us first family at about gmt
challenges facing the white house in including the worst economic
meltdown in years look likely to be trumped by the building crises
threatening to rage through
hyper partisan politics will get even more nasty with republicans targeting
gains in mid term elections in november which normally wound first term
presidents and democrats defending their grip on congress at all costs
the thwarted christmas day attack on us airliner reintroduced the terrifying
and polarizing specter of terrorism into american life just as wary normality
was easing memories of the september attacks in
criticism of obama handling of the attack is likely to complicate his task of
enacting an ambitious domestic program he will attempt to address what he says
are systemic us failures over the episode by meeting spy chiefs tuesday
obama plan to close the guantanamo bay camp already set to miss one year
deadline looks in deep peril nearly half of the remaining detainees are
from yemen where the christmas day attack was planned
yemen with its building al qaeda presence is widening front for us forces in
the global anti terror struggle along with pakistan and afghanistan
iran beset by its own political turmoil is meanwhile escalating the showdown
over its nuclear program with washington seeking tougher sanctions
tehran last year spurned obama engagement push leading the president foes
to brand him as naive
recent deaths of seven cia employees in afghanistan meanwhile underscored the
political risks and deep human cost of the president strong troop surge
into afghanistan
fresh global challenges come as obama faces percent unemployment which is
dampening hopes for economic recovery and his own political prospects
republicans are painting obama as big spending big government liberal and
will skewer him with huge joblessness and budget deficit of over trillion
dollars in
the country is in deep deep trouble minnesota governor tim pawlenty
possible republican presidential candidate told fox news last week
people are going to hold office holders and candidates to account
amid the gloom obama must try to rekindle the theme of change and hope which
powered his election win
while was difficult for many americans we must also look back with
the knowledge that brighter days are ahead of us he said in his new year
message
one political triumph health care reform task that has confounded
generations of democratic presidents may be in reach
final bill could emerge from congress within weeks setting up historic
signing ceremony to boost the president early in
after nearly year in power obama is grayer drained by washington acrimony
and no longer an untested source of hope for millions but commander in chief
who agonized then escalated the afghan war
his once soaring job approval ratings are now around the critical percent
threshold though he will be comforted that unlike many lawmakers he does not
face voters for three more years
judged by massive expectations which greeted his election obama first year
looks unimpressive but history may give him more credit
despite the economic blight obama argues that he stopped traumatized economy
slipping into depression and if the us economy shows its historic resilience
he may reap political benefit
however the long fight over health care has delayed much of his domestic agenda
and wall street is battling to water down regulatory reform drive
obama hopes of passing cap and trade bill to fight global warming also look
increasingly doubtful and dreams of his devotees that he could cleanse
washington partisan swamp have proven fanciful
abroad the administration bid to confront israeli prime minister benjamin
netanyahu now looks clumsy and the middle east peace process is stalled
in iraq however things look better the white house hopes to get us troop
numbers down to by august
cricket sri lanka put bangladesh in to bat
dhaka jan afp
sri lanka captain kumar sangakkara elected to field after winning the toss
against bangladesh in the opening match of triangular one day series here on
monday
india are the other team in the tournament each side will play four league
matches before the top two qualify for the final on january
bangladeshi paceman shafiul islam made his one day debut
bangladesh shakib al hasan capt tamim iqbal imrul kayes mohammad ashraful
raqibul hassan mushfiqur rahim mohammad mahmudullah naeem islam abdur
razzak rubel hossain shafiul islam
sri lanka kumar sangakkara capt tillakaratne dilshan upul tharanga
chamara silva thilan samaraweera thilina kandamby muthumudalige pushpakumara
suraj randiv suranga lakmal nuwan kulasekara chanaka welegedara
umpires enamul haque ban and ian gould eng
tv umpire nadir shah ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
czech factory blast kills woman fire brigade
prague jan afp
steam accumulators exploded in czech factory early monday killing woman and
seriously wounding at least three other people the fire brigade said
the blast left one dead three to four seriously injured and lightly wounded
people spokeswoman martina zahourkova told afp
the dead woman was found behind truck that was damaged after two accumulators
containing hot steam exploded in the plant in the northern town of rudnik about
kilometres miles northeast of prague
the truck driver suffered serious injury the roof of the factory collapsed
causing the other injuries
the explosion was in an avon automotive plant which produces rubber parts for
carmakers and is owned by britain avon rubber
barking mad israeli settler bites policeman over moratorium
jerusalem jan afp
refusing to muzzle his criticism of israel temporary settlement moratorium an
israeli settler took matters into his own teeth and bit policeman to mark his
outrage newspaper reported on monday
eighteen year old ephraim haikin student at jewish seminary in the hardline
settlement of yizhar in the north of the occupied west bank was apparently
doggone mad during november rally against the moratorium
an israeli court found him guilty of aggressing civil servant carrying out
his duties and damaging public goods by slashing the tyres of police jeep
the haaretz daily said
the youth was sentenced to month in prison and three months community service
it said
the settlers of yizhar are among the most hardline in the west bank and are
doggedly opposed to month limited moratorium on new housing starts that
