parkes mayor ken keith told afp on board the elvis express
everyone into it the young ones the rugby players it terrific
team of elvis tribute artists serenaded passengers who filled the aisles to
dance to their favourite tunes and stage rousing rendition of happy birthday
to their hero
what began as small town carnival during one hot summer has exploded into
nationally renowned event boasting almost elvis themed events including
back to the altar with elvis wedding vows and massive parade through the
town centre
sociologist john carroll who has been attending the festival for almost
decade as part of sydney university research project into rural australia
said it was uniquely successful event
it kind of like school leavers party for retirees said carroll laughing
as conga line of feather draped train travellers danced by stereo toting
elvis in tow
last year the festival brought more than four million us dollars to the
drought hit local economy with visitors booking out every hotel caravan
park and campsite in parkes
visitors from as far as south africa scotland and the united states were among
passengers on friday train
hundreds of exuberant locals packed the railway platform to greet the train as
it arrived in town adorning passengers with floral wreathes as they stepped
into the sun
viva las parkes white suited aficionado called out at the waiting crowd
long live the king they replied
european stocks rise at open london up percent
london jan afp
europe main stock markets climbed at the start of trading on friday with
london benchmark ftse index up percent to points ahead of
major us jobs data
frankfurt dax gained percent to stand at points and in paris
the cac won percent to
the opening gains came after the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei
index closed up percent on friday striking fresh month high as
weaker yen boosted exporters dealers said
investors meanwhile awaited the latest us monthly jobs data due friday which
will provide fresh clues on the direction of the world biggest economy
european stocks rise at open london up percent
london jan afp
europe main stock markets climbed at the start of trading on friday with
london benchmark ftse index up percent to points ahead of
major us jobs data
frankfurt dax gained percent to stand at points and in paris
the cac won percent to
the opening gains came after the tokyo stock exchange benchmark nikkei
index closed up percent on friday striking fresh month high as
weaker yen boosted exporters dealers said
investors meanwhile awaited the latest us monthly jobs data due on friday
which will provide fresh clues on the direction of the world biggest economy
hong kong shares edge higher
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares closed percent higher friday in choppy trade following
strong overnight lead on wall street
the benchmark hang seng index gained points to with turnover
reaching billion hong kong dollars billion us
and chinese shares ended flat as investors remained cautious amid concerns over
possible tightening measures by the central government dealers said
the benchmark shanghai composite index which covers and shares closed up
points or percent at on turnover of billion yuan
billion dollars
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 triangular one day series match here on friday
sri lanka made three changes from the side that beat india in the previous
match replacing chanaka welegedara suranga lakmal and muthumudalige
pushpakumara with nuwan kulasekara malinga bandara and mahela jayawardene
bangladesh retained the side that lost to india by six wickets in the third
match of the series on thursday
each side will play four league matches before the top two advance to the final
on january
bangladesh shakib al hasan capt tamim iqbal imrul kayes mohammad ashraful
raqibul hasan mushfiqur rahim mohammad mahmudullah naeem islam abdur razzak
rubel hossain syed rasel
sri lanka kumar sangakkara capt lahiru thirimanne upul tharanga mahela
jayawardene thilan samaraweera thilina kandamby thissara perera suraj
randiv thilan thushara nuwan kulasekara malinga bandara
umpires simon taufel aus and shahid saikat ban
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
former jetstar pacific director arrested in vietnam reports
hanoi jan afp
the former chief executive of budget airline jetstar pacific has been arrested
for negligence state linked media reported on friday
australian airline qantas which has stake in the vietnamese carrier said
separately that two senior executives had been ordered not to leave vietnam as
they help authorities explain how jetstar pacific lost million us dollars in
fuel hedging
hanoi police arrested luong hoai nam on thursday for alleged neglect of
responsibility in the performance of his duty causing serious consequences
reports said
the charge can lead to jail term upon conviction
jetstar pacific is percent owned by australia qantas group according to
the airline website which says the carrier was known as pacific airlines until
may
the largest shareholder is the vietnamese government
neither the airline nor police would comment on the reports of nam arrest
nam aged in his late resigned from his post as general director last
october after more than five years with the airline the reports said
they did not clearly explain his alleged neglect but the people police
newspaper reported the airline lost more than million dollars related to
aviation fuel purchases
qantas spokeswoman olivia wirth told afp two qantas group employees have not
been formally detained in vietnam but are unable to leave the country
the reason being is that they are working with vietnamese authorities on an
investigation into the operations of jetstar pacific and this investigation
specifically involves the fuel hedging operations of the airline she said
qantas said the australian government had given consular assistance to the two
employees jetstar pacific chief operating officer daniela marsilli and
chief financial officer tristan freeman
vietnamnet news website reported that the state audit agency concluded there was
lack of management supervision of efforts to hedge petrol costs at the
airline
jetstar pacific losses reached record billion dong now more than
million dollars in the year in which nam earned billion dong in
salary vietnamnet reported
fuel hedging is common among airlines seeking to lock in the lowest future
prices for fuel but carriers have lost millions in recent years with wild
fluctuations in global oil prices
india reliance raises offer to buy lyondell report
mumbai jan afp
india reliance industries has sweetened its bid for bankrupt netherlands based
chemicals maker lyondellbasell but is still unlikely to succeed with the
current offer report said on friday
the wall street journal reported reliance india biggest group had raised its
valuation of lyondell to about billion dollars from the billion dollars
initially put forward in november
lyondell board had rejected reliance improved offer the wsj said citing
person close to reliance who acknowledged lyondell was unlikely to agree to the
new proposal
under lyondell reorganisation plan the company would be handed to senior
lenders in exchange for billion dollars in debt investors would then support
billion dollar stock sale by the company the wsj said
lyondell current restructuring plan values the group as high as billion
dollars the report said
reliance spokesperson when contacted by afp declined to comment on the
report
deal between reliance and lyondell the world third largest chemicals maker
would create global energy and chemicals giant with annual revenues estimated
at near billion dollars
reliance awaits the outcome of crucial meeting next tuesday in the us where
lyondell reorganisation proposal will be considered at the united states
bankruptcy court
this week reliance said it raised nearly million dollars through share
sale which was seen by analysts as strengthening its war chest for global
acquisitions
reliance shares hit an intraday high of rupees on friday on the mumbai
stock exchange before retracing on profit taking to rupees down
percent or rupees
korea completes slaughter of sick animals
seoul jan afp
south korea has slaughtered hundreds of animals around dairy farm hit by the
highly contagious foot and mouth disease officials said friday
the agriculture ministry said cattle and goats within metre
yard radius of the farm in pocheon kilometres miles northeast of
seoul were killed
foot and mouth disease affects animals with cloven hooves such as cattle pigs
deer goats and sheep the virus can be spread between animals through the air
and on clothing however it is rarely transmitted to humans
six of milk cows on the farm were confirmed thursday to have tested positive
for the virus prompting authorities to ban pork and beef exports south korea
last year exported some tonnes of swine products
movement has been restricted within three kilometre two mile radius of the
contaminated farm to contain the disease
sri lanka faces new pressure over war crimes
colombo jan afp
sri lanka was under new pressure friday to submit to war crimes investigation
after the united nations authenticated video allegedly showing prisoners being
executed by troops last year
the government in colombo has faced repeated calls for probe from western
countries and rights groups ever since it launched final offensive to crush
tamil tiger separatist rebels in the country northeast in early
the assault brought an end to year old ethnic conflict that had claimed
lives since but hurt the reputation of the country abroad amid
criticism of the conduct and tactics of government forces
the un estimates that civilians perished during the first four months of
last year though this figure is disputed by the government
on thursday un human rights envoy philip alston concluded that video footage
said to be of sri lankan troops executing unarmed tamil tiger rebels last year
was authentic and urged colombo to accept war crimes probe
reacting on friday sri lankan human rights minister mahinda samarasinghe again
dismissed the video as fraud and accused alston of leading personal crusade
against the country
philip alston is on crusade of his own to force an international war crimes
inquiry against sri lanka samarasinghe told afp we object to the procedure
he followed he should have shared his information with us first
he added as far as we are concerned the video is not genuine and it has been
doctored
sri lanka has always resisted calls to probe its rights record arguing that
there are no grounds for an investigation given that there were no civilian
casualties or extrajudicial killings
in may last year colombo managed to stave off resolution condemning it at the
un human rights council thanks to the backing of china
but new charges emerged last month when the former army chief sarath fonseka
alleged that troops had been ordered by top defence official to execute
surrendering rebels charge the government vehemently denies
the government accused fonseka who is challenging president mahinda rajapakse
in the january national election of betraying the country and making the
statement for political gain
three tiger political wing leaders who were arranging their surrender with un
assistance were shot dead on may according to official reports the
government maintained that they were killed by the guerrillas themselves
secretary general ban ki moon said through his spokesman martin nesirky in new
york that full and impartial investigation into allegations of human rights
is critical if we are to confront impunity and bring justice
nesirky said ban informed colombo that he was considering appointing
commission of experts to advise him further and to assist the government in
taking measures to address possible violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law
the execution footage that has sparked the latest war of words between colombo
and the un was shot during the final stages of the army battle against the
tigers according to the group that distributed it
it shows man dressed in army uniform shooting naked bound and blindfolded
man in the back of the head while the bodies of eight others can be seen nearby
in muddy field
it was not clear if the dead were tiger rebels or civilians th man was also
shot in the same way towards the end of the video while men in the background
gloat over the killings
alston said the authenticity of the video was established by three us based
independent qualified experts he had commissioned to conduct an impartial
evaluation after four sri lankan specialists concluded it was fake
call for an independent inquiry to be established to carry out an impartial
investigation into war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian
and human rights law allegedly committed in sri lanka alston said
japan finance chief hints at action on yen
tokyo jan afp
japan new finance minister hinted friday at possible intervention to sell the
yen as tokyo toughened its stance against strong currency which has prompted
fears for the export dependent economy
naoto kan said that as finance minister it was his duty to take action on
foreign exchange when necessary
he added however that currency rates should in general be decided by market
fundamentals
kan remarks came day after he spooked markets with call for weaker yen
prompting thinly veiled rebuke from prime minister yukio hatoyama who warned
him not to publicly comment on currency levels
the government basically should not discuss foreign exchange hatoyama told
reporters regarding foreign exchange stability is desirable
kan former health minister with little experience in financial matters said
that he agreed in principle with hatoyama comments
the dollar rose to yen in tokyo afternoon trade up from in new york
late on thursday
the finance minister call thursday for further decline in the value of the
yen caused the currency to drop sharply on the foreign exchange market
kan said he would work with the central bank to steer the yen to an
appropriate level in break from his predecessor tolerance of stronger
currency
his remarks sparked speculation that tokyo might act to sell the yen although
japan has not made an official foray into the currency market since march
allowing the yen to find its own level against the dollar
kan stance on the yen contrasts sharply with his predecessor often
confusing view and suggests that the official view is shifting more towards yen
weakness said calyon currency analysts mitul kotecha
kan predecessor hirohisa fujii who stepped down for health reasons had
repeatedly said while in the job that in principle tokyo should refrain from
market intervention to weaken the yen and protect exporters
in november the dollar fell to around yen its lowest level since the mid
raising fears that japanese exporters such as toyota and sony would lose
competitiveness in overseas markets
japan economy the second largest in the world is heavily dependent on
exports to drive its growth collapse in overseas demand during the recent
global economic slowdown pushed japan into its worst recession in decades
the new finance chief faces the tricky task of reviving asia biggest economy
while also keeping the soaring national debt under control
the challenges facing kan are profound said glenn maguire chief asia
economist at societe generale in hong kong noting that japan bond issuance
has now topped its total tax revenues
this is clearly loudly ringing alarm bell on the long questioned
sustainability of japan fiscal position he warned
branson virgin shakes up british banking
london jan afp
virgin money part of richard branson virgin empire launched shake up of
britain troubled retail banking market on friday with the purchase of
private regional lender
virgin said it had agreed to buy church house trust for million pounds
million euros million dollars and would use the bank to offer
savings and mortgage products to customers under the virgin money brand
the church house trust business offers us strong platform for growth
branson said in statement announcing the deal
virgin money aims to bring simplicity to the uk banking market which has
traditionally been complex sector he added
virgin money said it would inject million pounds of new capital into church
house trust
britain retail banking sector was thrown into chaos by the credit crunch
causing the nationalisation of northern rock and multi billion pound bailouts of
royal bank of scotland and lloyds banking group
lbg was meanwhile created last year following government brokered deal to
merge ailing hbos bank with its stronger rival lloyds tsb
the financial crisis has tarnished the reputation of many uk banks virgin
money chief executive jayne anne gadhia said on friday
virgin money will provide better different form of banking to its customers
increasing competition in the sector
gadhia added our approach to banking is founded on developing sustainable
savings based business we see the acquisition of church house trust as strong
and sensible first step in delivering virgin money banking ambition
meanwhile church house trust chairman david batten said virgin was set to
benefit from the bank conservative business model
virgin announcement comes as britain biggest retailer supermarket giant
tesco has made its own recent moves aimed at attracting more customers away
from britain traditional banking sector
last october tesco relaunched its financial services division as tesco bank
in britain there has been widespread public anger over the global financial
crisis and subsequent recession
britain begins as the only top economy officially in recession after the
eurozone france germany japan and the united states last year each emerged
from the most severe downturn since the
however official data due later this month is expected to show that britain
returned to growth in the fourth quarter of last year
blast kills at alleged militant den in pakistan karachi
karachi jan afp
blast flattened house being used by militants in pakistan financial
capital karachi on friday with eight people killed when explosives apparently
detonated accidentally police said
guns grenades and suicide vests were recovered from the house in the poor
baldia town neighbourhood while bodies were buried under the rubble as bomb
disposal experts worked cautiously to clear the site
eight people were killed in the blast we have pulled out all the eight bodies
from the rubble and shifted them to hospital for the autopsies said fayyaz
khan senior city police official
another police official abdul majeed dasti said grenades kalashnikov rifle
and suicide vests were found at the scene while city police chief waseem ahmad
said the explosives appeared to have been detonated unintentionally
it seems that explosives which were stored in the house caused the explosion
ahmad said
the house was being used by terrorists we are taking utmost care in removing
the rubble bomb disposal officials have arrived at the scene
interior minister rehman malik said the people living in the house were from
swat northwestern valley where the military launched an operation last year
to quash two year uprising by taliban fighters
according to reports they were all asleep in the courtyard when this blast
occurred the minister told reporters in karachi
suicide bombings and attacks by the taliban and other islamist militant groups
have intensified in recent months as the military pursues an aggressive
offensive to quash insurgent strongholds near the afghan border
forty three people were killed in karachi pakistan largest city in
bombing blamed on militants during shiite religious procession last month in
the worst attack on the city in two years
baldia town mayor kamran akhtar said the dead were in the rented house at the
time of the attack with no passers by caught in the blast
the flattened house was single storey building with small courtyard and an
afp reporter at the scene said the limbs and the head of the victims were
visible under the rubble as rescue officials worked to free them
mohammad saleem local resident told afp he was leaving for his office in the
morning when he heard deafening explosion
when reached the scene found the house had already collapsed he said
those people living in this house never got mixed up with their neighbours but
nobody took any note of it
city police chief ahmad said two people had been arrested at the scene and were
being questioned but gave no further details
nearly people have been killed in attacks in pakistan since the militant
violence intensified in july with the taliban increasingly hitting big
cities and civilian targets
karachi cosmopolitan port city far away from the troubled northwest had
largely been spared the bloodshed but there are fears that militants are using
the cover of city of about million people to regroup and plan attacks
pakistan richest city is also plagued by crime and kidnappings which some
analysts say militant groups use to bankroll their insurgency
islamists say their campaign which has become deadlier over the last year is
to avenge military offensives and pakistan unpopular alliance with the united
states in the eight war against the taliban in neighbouring afghanistan
don need favour of foreign powers afghanistan karzai
kabul jan afp
afghanistan president hamid karzai whose fragile government is propped up by
more than foreign troops said friday he does not need the favour of
the international community
the us and nato have troops fighting taliban led insurgency trying to
topple karzai and destabilise the war torn impoverished and corrupt country
with more than international troop deaths in the war is becoming more
deadly for foreign and afghan troops alike as it drags into its ninth year since
the islamist regime was toppled in
diplomats in kabul say without the western military presence karzai
government would soon collapse as the taliban is spreading its footprint across
the country and setting up shadow administrative and judicial systems
have to win the hearts and minds of the afghan people have to be
legitimate and have the trust of the afghan people if am to be good
president karzai told al jazeera television with western forces set to rise
this year to and kabul receiving billions of dollars year in aid
the legitimacy of my government has to be given by the afghan people
with the international community don have to have their favour they are
here for purpose which is the fight on terror and we are working with them
for purpose which is the stability and safety of afghanistan so we have
common purpose
karzai began second five year term in november after being declared the winner
of an august president poll that descended into ballot stuffing farce with
investigators finding that about million votes for karzai were fake
in the interview he said afghanistan is good model of democracy and has
done well in education and economy despite the fact that millions of
children do not go to school extremists intimidation limits girls education
and the economy is based principally on the illegal poppy trade
but he said in terms of security we have failed
israel says no more concessions for prisoner swap reports
jerusalem jan afp
israel will not make any more concessions to hamas in negotiations for the
exchange of hundreds of palestinian prisoners for israeli soldier gilad shalit
captured by gaza militants in reports said on friday
prime minister benjamin netanyahu has told his negotiator to make it clear
israel will not retreat from its position that some of the prisoners hamas wants
freed cannot be released radio and several newspapers reported
he also insists some of the prisoners cannot be released in the occupied west
bank as this would jeopardise its security public radio said
netanyahu sent clear signal to hamas the proposal sent by israel to hamas
via the german mediator is the last of its kind israel will no longer
negotiate on the details of the deal the maariv newspaper said citing
senior official it did not name
both sides have been tight lipped about the indirect negotiations but hamas
the islamist leaders of the gaza strip seek the release of hundreds of
prisoners including several top militants convicted of killing scores of
israelis in major attacks
shalit now was captured by hamas fighters and militants from two other
groups in deadly cross border raid from the gaza strip in june
anti whaling superboat sinks after japanese collision
sydney jan afp
high tech protest boat sank without trace on friday after dangerous
collision with japanese whaling ship as australia protested to tokyo over its
fleet alleged tactics
peter hammarstedt first officer of the sea shepherd group bob barker ship
said the celebrated ady gil was abandoned overnight after tow line snapped
en route to an antarctic research base
the futuristic trimaran which held the round the world record had several
metres yards of its front end sheared off in the collision with japanese
security vessel on wednesday
at this point unfortunately the ady gil is on the bottom of the southern
ocean hammarstedt told afp
it leaves us with no other option but to re take up the pursuit of the whaling
fleet he added we have no intention of backing down we will never
surrender
deputy prime minister julia gillard said australia tokyo embassy had relayed
very strong concerns over recent developments including wednesday crash and
claims the fleet chartered spying flights out of australia
our embassy in tokyo is making high level representations to the japanese
government she said
they have passed to the japanese government our very strong concerns about the
question of flights being chartered potentially in australia to monitor the
activity of protest vessels
they have passed on our very strong concerns about conduct on the high seas and
of course we continue to make it very clear our view about whaling
footage of the crash showed the shonan maru ploughing across the new
zealand registered ady gil bow and firing water cannon while the protest
boat crew dived for safety
hammarstedt said the stricken powerboat bankrolled by hollywood businessman ady
gil broke its tow line after taking on too much water
last time we saw the ady gil the entire engine room was fully submerged in
water as well as the fuel tanks he said
it was going down pretty quickly captain pete bethune estimated two to three
hours before being fully submerged at that point we decided to take up the hunt
for the whaling fleet again
new zealand and australian authorities are investigating the incident while
japan lodged strong protest with the wellington government both the whalers
and the protesters blame each other for the crash
in the last few seconds we realised shit they re actually going to collide
with us recalled new zealand protester simeon houtman who was left with
broken ribs
instinct took over and we all just dived for the aft desk and landed in heap
thankfully everyone survived
sea shepherd claims to have saved hundreds of whales by chasing the japanese
fleet over six year campaign backed by hollywood listers including sean
penn martin sheen and pierce brosnan
japan hunts the animals using loophole in international moratorium
which allows lethal research defying regular protests from australia new
zealand and the netherlands
the skirmishes have grown increasingly sophisticated with the activists
deploying laser like devices and stink bombs and the japanese fleet operating
military style acoustic weapons and water cannon
sea shepherd also claims the japanese chartered flights to pinpoint their
position so that the shonan maru could keep them away from the whalers
setting off pursuit which set back the harassment campaign by weeks
the ady gil which put to sea in december made its first contact with the fleet
before dawn on wednesday before being stricken in the dramatic crash just hours
later
the sleek carbon and kevlar wave piercing trimaran was capable of speeds up to
knots and claimed the circumnavigation record in under its former name
earthrace
journalist shot in northern philippines police
manila jan afp
two motorcycle riding gunmen shot radio broadcaster in the northern
philippines police said on friday the latest attack on journalist in the
world deadliest country for reporters
eugene paet broadcaster at news programme for commando radio station
based in vigan city was shot and wounded on thursday night said regional
police director chief superintendent constantino azares
paet is alive but in critical condition azares said
the shooting is still being investigated and it is not known if the crime is
related to paet work as reporter according to azares
local and international press organisations have previously criticised the
culture of impunity in the philippines where officials and outlaws feel free
to attack journalists who report on their misdeeds or criticise them
in the worst case about journalists were among people murdered in the
southern philippines in november allegedly by the private army of political
clan seeking to prevent rival from running in national elections
total of journalists have been murdered since the fall of dictator
ferdinand marcos in with of the deaths occurring since president gloria
arroyo came to power in local press groups say
the new york based committee to protect journalists said journalists were
killed in the philippines in making it the world deadliest country for
journalists last year
anti whaling superboat sinks after japanese collision
sydney jan afp
high tech protest boat sank without trace on friday after dangerous
collision with japanese whaling ship as australia protested to tokyo over its
fleet alleged tactics
