higher at on the back of the china export figures
seoul closed flat down points to as auto and tech exporters lost
ground on concerns over the strength of the korean won
tokyo was closed monday for public holiday
the us labor department reported the economy lost jobs in december while
the unemployment rate held at percent
and in the european union the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the
euro countries hit percent in november the highest since the currency was
launched decade ago and up from percent in october
in japan report said troubled japan airlines jal is expected to slash
jobs or about percent of its workforce in three years as part of
rehabilitation plan to keep it flying
the layoffs coupled with cuts in benefits and wages will be carried out with
the sale of jal subsidiaries including jal hotels co kyodo news reported
the dollar which rallied last week on the back of comments from japan new
finance minister that he preferred weaker yen fell on the jobs news
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
crude was up in asian trade as the cold snap in the northern hemisphere boosted
demand for heating fuel
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery
jumped cents to dollars barrel
brent north sea crude for february delivery rose cents to dollars
gold closed higher in hong kong at us dollars an ounce up
from friday close of dollars
in other markets
the singapore straits timex index closed up percent or points at
container shipping firm neptune orient lines closed at singapore dollars
us up cents on improving global trade singapore airlines fell eight
cents to
taipei closed up points or percent at
after strong showing in shares largely appear expensive that why not
many investors are willing to chase prices at the moment mega securities
analyst alex huang said
the steel sector remained attractive on rising product prices with tung ho steel
up percent at dollars
in malaysia the kuala lumpur composite index rose points or
percent to close at
players are back in the market today with lower liners and speculative stocks
attracting the most attention dealer said
glove maker latexx jumped percent to ringgit as property management
company hartalega climbed percent to ringgit
jakarta gained percent or points to end at
cigarette maker gudang garam rose percent to rupiah while bellwether
telkom added percent to
expect foreign buying to continue tuesday so that the main index can break
above the immediate resistance level of an analyst at foreign
securities firm said
manila rose percent or points to
the index finished at five week high as dealers looked to the strong overseas
market ayala corp rose percent to pesos while philippine long distance
telephone co gained percent to pesos
bangkok rose percent or points to close at
ptt plc added baht to baht while its subsidiary ptt exploration and
production gained baht to
the market was helped by positive expectations about an impending government
appeal against court ruling in december that halted dozens of huge projects at
an industrial estate on thailand eastern seaboard analysts said
wellington fell percent or points to
auckland international airport led the falls losing six cents to dollars
after saying it was buying quarter stake in north queensland airports
in mumbai the share benchmark sensex closed down points or
percent at
india largest private sector firm reliance industries fell percent or
rupees to after the company said monday it raised million
dollars in another share issue
infosys technologies india second largest software exporter rose
percent or rupees to ahead of its third quarter earnings to be
announced tuesday
georgia president decorates us senator mccain
tbilisi jan afp
georgian president mikheil saakashvili on monday decorated visiting us senator
and former presidential candidate john mccain with the order of the national
hero of georgia
at ceremony in georgia black sea city of batumi saakashvili lavished praise
on mccain for his strong support of georgia during the august russian
georgian war
friend in need is friend indeed georgia is free country today
because of our friends support saakashvili said in comments broadcast on
georgian television
john mccain demonstrated heroism for america and for georgia
mccain said the award was an expression of partnership and solidarity between
our two nations confronted by common challenges bound by common interests and
united by common democratic values
the senator at the time of the conflict was the republican candidate for the us
presidency fighting campaign that would ultimately see him defeated by barack
obama
he repeatedly backed georgia in the conflict stating at one point that now we
are all georgians and vehemently criticising the actions of russia
at the beginning of the ceremony saakashvili handed mccain what he said was
pistol that once belonged to an american pilot captured by soviet troops in
vietnam he said it had been sold during the august war to georgian
businessman by russian general
mccain former naval aviator spent six years in north vietnamese captivity as
prisoner of war during which he was severely tortured
the visit of mccain and fellow republican senators john barrasso and john thune
in batumi on sunday and monday is aimed at strengthening the us georgian
strategic partnership the georgian presidency said in statement
national hockey league results
washington jan afp
national hockey league results and standings after sunday games
sunday january th results
carolina ottawa
columbus dallas
anaheim chicago
eastern conference
atlantic division
new jersey
pittsburgh
ny rangers
philadelphia
ny islanders
northeast division
buffalo
boston
ottawa
montreal
toronto
southeast division
washington
atlanta
tampa bay
florida
carolina
western conference
central division
chicago
nashville
detroit
columbus
st louis
northwest division
calgary
vancouver
colorado
minnesota
edmonton
pacific division
san jose
phoenix
los angeles
dallas
anaheim
note overtime losses ot are worth one point in the standings and are not
included in the loss column
monday january th schedule
pittsburgh at minnesota pm
san jose at los angeles pm
nashville at vancouver pm
colorado at calgary pm
all times are eastern
afp
basketball nba results and standings
washington jan afp
results and standings after sunday national basketball association games
sunday january th results
boston toronto
new orleans washington
la clippers miami
san antonio new jersey
cleveland portland
la lakers milwaukee
eastern conference
atlantic div pct gb
boston
toronto
new york
philadelphia
new jersey
central div pct gb
cleveland
milwaukee
chicago
detroit
indiana
southeast div pct gb
orlando
atlanta
miami
charlotte
washington
western conference
northwest div pct gb
denver
portland
oklahoma city
utah
minnesota
pacific div pct gb
la lakers
phoenix
la clippers
sacramento
golden state
southwest div pct gb
dallas
san antonio
houston
new orleans
memphis
monday january th schedule
toronto at indiana pm
new orleans at philadelphia pm
atlanta at boston pm
detroit at chicago pm
new york at oklahoma city pm
minnesota at denver pm
milwaukee at phoenix pm
miami at utah pm
cleveland at golden state pm
all times are eastern
afp
tennis top russian players to miss serbia fed cup clash
moscow jan afp
russian fed cup team skipper shamil tarpishchev said monday that the country
top players will miss this year opening round clash with serbia at belgrade on
february
dinara safina svetlana kuznetsova elena dementieva and vera zvonareva who all
finished last year in the wta rankings top will all miss the showdown with
serbia the skipper said
he named elena vesnina who is rd in the wta rankings alisa kleibanova th
in the world anastasia pavlyuchenkova who is th and yekaterina makarova
th in the world as his squad for the match in belgrade
unfortunately for us the fed cup opening round was placed in between the
australian open and series of important tournaments in the united states
tarpishchev said
besides zvonareva and dementieva were experiencing certain health problems
after last season and had both asked beforehand not to be included in the squad
for the clash with serbia
french academic trial to resume saturday in iran lawyer
tehran jan afp
the trial of french academic clotilde reiss who was detained in post election
unrest in iran is to resume on saturday her lawyer told isna news agency on
monday
the third court session has been set for january in branch of the
revolutionary court mohammad ali mahdavi sabet said
iranian authorities have put reiss on trial for allegedly taking part in
protests which erupted in the wake of iran disputed presidential election in
june
the young woman who was arrested on july and released on bail in august is
staying at the french embassy awaiting the outcome of her case
europeans battle to work as snow clean up begins
berlin jan afp
europeans struggled to get to work on monday after weekend of treacherous
winter weather left thousands of homes without power and caused mayhem on roads
railways and at airports
villages in parts of north east germany which was almost completely paralysed
over the weekend were still cut off from the outside world as snowdrifts
whipped up by gale force winds made roads and railways unpassable
with schools closed in many areas authorities said they were pulling out all
the stops to get rail and road traffic moving again although they warned of
continued delays
we are slowly fighting our way through the masses of snow police spokesman
in the northern german town of luebeck said
at frankfurt airport europe third busiest where some flights were
cancelled at the weekend more were scrapped on monday and authorities warned
of further problems as air traffic slowly gets back to normal
spain and portugal meanwhile were the latest to feel the full force of what
experts said was an unusually harsh winter with the southern spanish city of
seville under snow on sunday for the first time in half century
authorities sounded the alert in central and northern areas of spain in
anticipation of fresh flurries coupled with icy temperatures with flights
cancelled at madrid barajas airport
in portugal around main roads were closed as snow forced scores of people to
spend the night stuck in their vehicles schools were shut in the worst hit
regions
in southern poland more than homes were without power for second day
while heavy snowfalls and freezing rain hit rail traffic between the capital
warsaw and the south
experts in germany which is emerging from its worst recession since world war
ii warned that the disruption was the last thing that europe largest economy
needed
the cold weather could really make for difficult start to what is meant to be
year of growth in volker treier from the dihk economics institute told
the bild daily
if there is no improvement soon the german economy could lose around two
billion euros three billion dollars in lost activity or percent of gross
domestic product gdp in the first quarter he said
britain which is still in recession is on course to take hit of billion
pounds billion euros billion dollars from the harshest winter in
decades according to the centre for economics and business research
the confederation of british industry cbi has said the wintry conditions
which has seen the country under blanket of snow for the past week was
causing massive disruption
but economists believe the impact will be mitigated by britons working at home
to beat the freeze benefiting utilities and internet retailers as they turn up
the heating and shop online and that the economy will bounce back
don exaggerate the economic impact of the freeze much of the lost gdp
will be made up in the coming weeks but some cash strapped businesses might
be pushed over the edge cebr head douglas williams said
urgent french academic trial to resume saturday in iran lawyer
tehran jan afp
the trial of french academic clotilde reiss who was detained in post election
unrest in iran is to resume on january her lawyer told isna news agency on
monday
two held in angola after rebel attack on togo team
luanda jan afp
police in angola grilled two suspects monday over deadly shooting attack by
separatist rebels on the togolese team which overshadowed the start of africa
premier football tournament
the pair were arrested in cabinda an angolan enclave inside the democratic
republic of congo close to the scene of friday attack which ended with the
death of the squad assistant coach and media spokesman
two people have been captured when we have more information we will pass it
on to the public antonio nito cabinda provincial attorney general told
the state run national radio
the togolese team withdrew from the african cup of nations following the attack
and left angola on sunday evening to return home following orders from their
government despite appeals by the players to be allowed to stay
it very sad it hard for africa and for us togo captain emmanuel adebayor
told afp at the airport in cabinda
these things are part of life you have to accept it the manchester city
striker added
the tournament was meant to showcase angola recovery after year civil war
which ended in
but the attack has instead shone an unwelcome spotlight on the government
inability to end low level insurgency in oil rich cabinda
splinter group of the independence movement flec front for the liberation of
the enclave of angola has claimed responsibility for the attack saying it
warned confederation of african football caf boss issa hayatou against holding
matches in cabinda
this is going to continue because the nation is at war because hayatou
persists said rodrigues mingas secretary general of the forces for the
liberation of the state of cabinda military position flec pm
speaking at the tournament opening match in luanda on sunday night which
ended in dramatic draw between the hosts and mali angola veteran
president jose eduardo dos santos denounced friday attack
we condemn this act of terror but the competition will continue in cabinda
dos santos said as he opened the tournament we are together may the best man
win
his government and african football officials pleaded to the last second for
togolese authorities to allow the players to fulfill their wish to compete in
the tournament to honour their slain colleagues
the attack occurred as the togo convoy drove into the cabinda enclave from
neighbouring congo brazzaville on friday leaving players cowering under their
seats during minute gunbattle with security forces
goalkeeper kodjovi obilale was airlifted to johannesburg hospital to undergo
surgery to treat gunshot wounds to the lower back and abdomen
togo withdrawal has plunged the organisation of the tournament into chaos
they had been due to play ghana in cabinda on monday evening but that match has
now been cancelled
however the match between burkina faso and tournament favourites ivory coast
the first of the tournament in cabinda is due to kick off at gmt
the attack prompted calls for the tournament to be scrapped and ghana
government has demanded extra security for its players
it has also raised questions about players security at this year world cup in
south africa the first time the tournament has been staged in africa
phil brown manager of english premier league team hull is among those who have
called for his players to return from angola immediately and said the attack
threw question mark over the world cup finals in south africa
but world cup organising chief danny jordaan said that the attack in angola had
nothing to do with south africa and that particular incident should not damage
the reputation of the continent as whole
slovak industry exports rebound in november official data
bratislava jan afp
slovakia showed signs of recovery as industrial output and exports in november
posted the first rises since the global crisis hit hard more than year ago
official data showed monday
slovak industrial output grew by percent on month basis in november in
the first increase since october the slovak statistics office said
growth was fuelled by percent rise in output in car plants including
germany volkswagen france psa peugeot citroen and south korea kia motors
in october output in the car industry the driving force of the former
communist economy fell by revised percent
the production of computers electronics and optical products another engine of
the economy fell at month pace of percent in november after
percent slump in october
south korea samsung and japan sony both have large operations in slovakia
eu entrant which joined the eurozone last year
the slovak statistics office also revised the october output figure to
percent decline from the originally reported percent fall
statisticians said slovak exports grew by percent on month basis the
first growth since october to billion euros billion dollars
while imports fell by percent to billion euros
slovakia posted trade surplus of million euros in november after
revised october surplus of million euros
overall exports for the first eleven months of fell by percent on an
annual basis while imports slumped percent
the aggregate surplus for january november amounted to billion euros against
deficit of million euros in the same period of
the slovak central bank expects the country economy to contract by percent
in and rebound with percent growth this year
fake euro seizures rise by eight percent ecb
frankfurt jan afp
the number of fake euro banknotes seized in the second half of rose by
eight percent from the first half of the year the european central bank said on
monday trend that began in late
in the second half of total of counterfeit euro banknotes were
withdrawn from circulation an ecb statement said
the rise was slower than in the first half of however when the central
bank reported percent jump in the number of seized counterfeit notes
the proportion of counterfeits is still very low the statement said when
compared with roughly billion genuine banknotes in circulation
as is often the case fake notes of mid level value were the most often seized
with euro dollar bills representing percent of the total
almost all of those found percent comprised of and euro
banknotes and more than percent of all counterfeit notes were found within
the member eurozone
spanish police said on august that they had recovered almost nine million
euros worth of fake euro bills european union record for notes of this
denomination
other crackdowns on counterfeiters included the arrest of two people by italian
police in late july as officials raided money factory in the southern campania
region and seized seven million euros in fake euro notes
four others were apprehended in bulgaria police said on october and
euros in fake euro bills were recovered
in mid october polish police arrested four cameroonians who were french
residents after finding fake and euro notes and material
used to counterfeit money in the southern city of czestochowa
two shot dead in thailand insurgency hit south police
narathiwat thailand jan afp
gunmen shot dead two villagers in thailand troubled south police said monday
the latest victims in bloody six year insurgency plaguing the muslim majority
region
district chief and former village official both muslims were killed by
four men on motorcycles late sunday as they sat at tea shop with friends in
narathiwat province said police
also in narathiwat militants hiding by the roadside opened fire on policeman
as he rode his motorcycle home from praying at mosque seriously injuring him
they said
more than people both buddhists and muslims have been killed since
separatist islamic insurgency erupted in january in thailand southernmost
provinces bordering malaysia
tensions had bubbled under the surface in the south for decades since
predominantly buddhist thailand annexed the former malay muslim sultanate in
lebanese army fires on israeli fighter planes military
beirut jan afp
lebanese anti aircraft guns opened fire on four israeli warplanes which were
violating its airspace at low altitude on monday the military said
the army anti aircraft guns fired at four enemy israeli planes that had been
overflying the southern area of marjayoun this morning an army spokesman
told afp on condition of anonymity
an afp correspondent in southern lebanon said about rounds had targeted four
israeli aircraft
un spokesman in lebanon said the overflights were violation of un security
council resolution which ended devastating war between israel and
lebanon shiite hezbollah
we have been noticing significant number of israeli overflights into lebanese
airspace over the last week which constitute violation of resolution
unifil deputy spokesman andrea tenenti said
we have as always strongly protested these violations to the israeli defence
forces and reported them to the security council he told afp
israel argues that the overflights are necessary despite resolution to
monitor what it says is massive arms smuggling by hezbollah in breach of the
same resolution
while lebanon army publishes almost daily reports of israeli violations of
lebanese airspace the military rarely opens fire unless the planes fly within
range of its guns
alert
iran trial of french academic clotilde reiss to resume on saturday lawyer
basketball yao ming says unlikely for worlds
beijing jan afp
china star centre yao ming said monday that his foot injury would likely keep
him from playing in the world basketball championships in turkey state
news agency xinhua reported
not going to have competitive games until july don think so yao was
quoted as saying in webchat with leading portal sohu com when asked about
playing in the worlds which open in late august
maybe it better chance for the young chinese players to prove themselves
the houston rocket said
yao absence is likely to be big blow to the national side chances and
comes after china came second in the asian basketball championships last year
losing to iran in the final without the nba all star
last month at the east asian games in hong kong the long time asian basketball
powerhouse failed to win medal
yao broke his foot in an nba play off game against the los angeles lakers last
may and is sitting out the entire nba season as he recovers
during the webchat yao also confirmed that he and his wife are expecting
baby their first
also want to tell everybody that am going to be father it always
delightful thing to be father yao said
china places record order for taiwan flat screens
taipei jan afp
taiwan liquid crystal display makers have received the largest ever order from
china planning to sign contract worth five billion us dollars next week
taipei based trade official said monday
the order which is up from billion dollars for the entire year has
been filed jointly by nine chinese television makers said wang chih kang head
of the quasi official taiwan external trade development council
three taiwanese liquid crystal display suppliers are scheduled to sign the
contracts on january in beijing he told reporters
ties between taiwan and china have improved fast since beijing friendly ma ying
jeou became president of the island in on platform of boosting trade
links with the mainland and allowing in more chinese tourists
to help secure the improved ties beijing sent spate of delegations to taiwan
last year purchasing billion dollars worth of goods which beijing said
shielded the island from the full impact of the global financial crisis
wang said china plans to send similar procurement delegations to taiwan this
year
taiwan and china have been ruled separately since the end of civil war in
but beijing claims the island as part of its territory and believes
reunification is only question of time
iraq wants explanations on iran border nuclear plant
baghdad jan afp
the iraqi government on monday called for explanations from the un nuclear
watchdog on reported plan for iran to build nuclear reactor near the border
between the two countries
the iraqi government has asked for explanations from the iaea international
atomic energy agency on information concerning the construction of an iranian
