festival gets underway in utah on thursday
words gmt by romain raynaldy
africa
somalia piracy shipping harardhere focus
mogadishu
once quiet somali fishing town harardhere has earned the dubious title of
piracy capital of the world and its residents are now fearing their town is too
small for the pirates and their money
words gmt by mustafa haji abdinur
asia
japan airline company distress jal ndlead
tokyo
japan airlines seeks to reassure the travelling public that it will keep flying
despite declaring bankruptcy as its share price drops to new record low of
just two us cents
words gmt by miwa suzuki graphic
we have also moved japan airline company bankruptcy jal analysis
vietnam rights trial thlead
ho chi minh city
group of vietnamese democracy activists go on trial facing possible death
sentences on charges of trying to overthrow the communist regime in case which
has sparked global concern
words gmt by aude genet file picture
nkorea politics skorea kim lead
seoul
north korea ailing leader kim jong il may die in two or three years and this
could spark upheavals such as coup mass unrest or massacres in the communist
nation south korean state think tank says
words moved by park chan kyong
china us internet court company baidu rdlead
beijing
china top internet search engine baidu files suit against us web firm after
its site was hacked the latest broadside in growing spat after google
threatened to quit the country over cyberattacks
words gmt
philippines politics massacre trial lead
manila
philippine politician accused of massacring people shows no emotion as
grisly footage is shown in court of the victims mangled and bloodied bodies
being pulled from mass graves
words gmt by mynardo macaraig picture
malaysia religion christian islam church attack rdlead
kuala lumpur
malaysian police arrest eight people over the firebombing of church the first
in spate of attacks triggered by row over the use of the word allah which
has escalated ethnic tensions
words gmt by beh lih yi
australia britain royals william ndlead wrap
sydney
britain visiting prince william says he is so thrilled by his warm welcome to
sydney that he like to buy house in the australian harbourside city
words moved by amy coopes picture
un climate warming glaciers india lead
new delhi
an indian scientist at the centre of new climate science storm denies ever
saying himalayan glaciers could melt by an alarming date that was used
by the un top global warming body
words gmt
india france travel architecture
chennai india
it been copied in las vegas and hangs on thousand keyrings now another
replica of the eiffel tower is to be built in once french enclave of india
miles kilometres from the original
words moved by joel scott picture
bomb injures pakistani lawmaker in peshawar police
peshawar pakistan jan afp
bomb blast injured four people on wednesday including provincial lawmaker in
pakistan northwest city of peshawar frequent target of taliban attacks
officials said
the cause of the blast was not immediately clear but local television stations
showed footage of blackened car rubble and small crater in the centre of
the capital of the north west frontier province
we have received four injured people one of them is the mpa member of
provincial assembly orangzeb khan his condition is bad said zafar iqbal
doctor at the main lady reading hospital
sahibzada mohammad anis peshawar top administrative official confirmed that
awami national party representative khan was the target
the target was his vehicle can say whether it was planted bomb or
suicide attack the incident took place near his home he told afp
pakistan is in the grip of violent campaign by mostly taliban militants with
nearly people killed in attacks since july
government officials are frequent target of militants who are battling to
impose harsh brand of islamic law across swathes of the northwest and are
opposed to islamabad alliance with the united states
urgent rescued from haiti debris since quake un
geneva jan afp
the united nations said wednesday that people had been rescued by
international teams from the debris of collapsed buildings in haiti since the
january earthquake
european stocks dip at open london down percent
london jan afp
europe main stock markets slid at the start of trading on wednesday with
london benchmark ftse index down percent at points
frankfurt dax eased percent to points and in paris the cac
handed back percent to stand at
corrected china says coal mine deaths fall in
beijing jan afp
the number of workers who died in china notoriously dangerous coal mines
dropped in because of improved safety measures state media said wednesday
total of miners about seven day were killed last year down by
from xinhua news agency said citing the state administration of coal
mine safety
the number of mining accidents also fell by to it said
administration director zhao tiechui earlier this month attributed the decline
to improved safety standards but reiterated that the road to safer mines would
continue to be difficult
accidents in small scale coal mines accounted for percent of the fatalities
last year zhao said adding that the government would pursue efforts to shut
down such operations this year
small mines produce about percent of the nation coal he said
fatalities at china coal mines peaked in when deaths were recorded
sparking efforts by the government to boost safety standards
china total coal production rose from just over one billion tonnes in to
billion tonnes last year zhao said the fossil fuel produces about
percent of the booming nation energy
as part of its campaign to increase safety standards the government has levied
heavy fines and implemented region wide mining shutdowns following serious
accidents
but the action has resulted in the under reporting of accidents as mine bosses
seek to limit their economic losses labour rights groups maintain
other safety measures include modernising ventilation and gas detection systems
and improving evacuation procedures
authorities have also beefed up safety inspection requirements and imposed
stricter standards for mine closures government inspectors have focused on
getting more input from miners about the situation in the pit rather than
relying on management
hong kong shares tumble on liquidity fears
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares fell percent wednesday amid renewed weakness in banking
stocks due to continued uncertainties over beijing monetary policy dealers
said
the benchmark hang seng index rose points to turnover was
billion hong kong dollars billion us
in shanghai shares tumbled percent with banks leading the fall due to
concerns over tighter controls on lending growth dealers said
the shanghai composite index which covers both and shares was down
points at on turnover of billion yuan billion dollars
china mourns eight martyrs killed in haiti quake
beijing jan afp
china top leaders bid final and sombre farewell wednesday to the eight
nationals who died in last week devastating earthquake in haiti where four of
them had served as un peacekeepers
in ceremony broadcast on state television the eight were buried at the
babaoshan cemetery in western beijing where revolutionary heroes and the ruling
communist party top officials are laid to rest
the nine members of the politburo standing committee the party top
leadership wearing black suits and white paper flowers in their buttonholes
filed past the coffins draped with the national flag
president hu jintao premier wen jiabao and the other leaders also saluted
family members of the victims
beyond the four peacekeepers the four others killed had just arrived in haiti
capital port au prince as part of delegation to hold talks with un officials
when the magnitude quake struck
between and people are thought to have died
the bodies of the chinese victims were given hero homecoming on tuesday in
beijing and they were officially declared revolutionary martyrs
state television and newspapers have devoted non stop coverage to the victims
and kungfu star jackie chan has even recorded song in tribute to them with
chinese singer tan jing entitled send you home
china permanent member of the un security council that does not have
diplomatic relations with haiti has nevertheless been present in the country
since with trade bureau and is active in the un peacekeeping force
the caribbean country is one of nations that still officially recognises the
self ruled island of taiwan where the nationalists fled in after the
communist victory in civil war on the mainland
indonesia police to tackle tribal war in papua
timika indonesia jan afp
indonesian police have been authorised to take action over tribal feud in
restive papua province in which three people have been killed with arrows
police said wednesday
police have previously not usually intervened in matters seen as part of the
traditional culture in the remote eastern region
the mimika district head and the parliament have given the police the authority
to take firm action so from today we ll arrest anybody who uses the arrow to
kill mimika district police chief mohammad sagi told afp
two men and year old boy died in separate clashes which started early
january allegedly over adultery committed by man and woman from two families
from the amungme tribe in the village of kwamki lama mimika district deputy
police chief jeremias routini said
the tribal war was sparked after the man family failed to pay compensation
of million rupiah dollars to the woman family he added
because they did not pay up war using bows and arrows broke out routini
said
bows and arrows spears and machetes are traditionally used by papuan tribes to
settle their disputes
before this it hard for police to interfere because the villagers said it
tribal war and nobody was arrested but from now we ll treat this is as
criminal case not customary issue sagi said
under indonesian law offenders could be charged with premeditated murder which
carries the death sentence he added
alert
people rescued from haiti rubble in the past week un
tennis nadal safina stride on in melbourne
melbourne jan afp
defending champion rafael nadal pounded his way into the australian open third
round on wednesday alongside dinara safina and kim clijsters who showed nerves
of steel to come through tough tests
other top names also showed their credentials including andy roddick svetlana
kuznetsova and jelena jankovic while caroline wozniacki and victoria azarenka
made the second round as rain delayed matches were cleared
spanish second seed nadal was in rip roaring form as he smashed hapless slovak
lukas lacko to stay on track for potential quarter final with
andy murray who plays later
second round always is easier to play you are more adapted to the conditions
and everything think improved little bit said nadal who relinquished
his number one ranking to roger federer last year
he said his main goal was winning more titles
my real goal right now is just try to be competitive in every tournament that
play and feel when go on court can win against everybody he said
safina the second seed who was beaten in the final last year by serena
williams posted win over the czech republic barbora zahlavova
strycova but struggled
she made nine more unforced errors to than her th ranked opponent and
had problems with her serve facing multiple break points each time
overall there were too many unforced errors she admitted
clijsters also found the going tough given thorough examination by thai
veteran tamarine tanasugarn
the year old belgian who won the lead up brisbane international eventually
triumphed but it was harder than the score suggested for the th
seed now back full time after break to start family
her serve was broken in each set before she dug deep to win
physically feel good she said
feel like good enough on the day to beat my opponents it not with my
best tennis yet but hopefully can save that when it really necessary
clijsters could meet fellow comeback queen justine henin in the quarter finals
although henin has major hurdle to clear in fifth seed elena dementieva on rod
laver arena later wednesday
unlike the high profile clijsters and henin russian third seed kuznetsova is
flying under the radar and looked impressive in her defeat of
countrywoman anastasia pavlyuchenkova
the french open champion whose best effort here has been making the quarter
finals said she had prepared well in the off season and was ready to make an
impact
think ve done good pre season ve worked hard and ve enjoyed it she
said
feeling good worked on new things
danish fourth seed wozniacki downed canada aleksandra wozniak to get
her campaign off to winning start while belarussian seventh seed azarenka
blasted her way past france stephanie cohen aloro
serbia jankovic who was world number one this time last year eased past
england katie brien
maria sharapova remains the highest profile casualty on the women side and her
russian conqueror maria kirilenko marched into the third round with
romp against austria yvonne meusburger
in the men draw roddick ranted at the umpire after completing straight sets
win over brazilian thomaz bellucci
the american seventh seed had just served out win when he
continued to argue over hawk eye video review decision which narrowly went
against him on the first of his two match points
other men through included chilean th seed fernando gonzalez and th seeded
croat ivan ljubicic
tennis unpredictable safina muscles into open third round
melbourne jan afp
russian dinara safina was typically unpredictable as she muscled into the
australian open third round with straight sets win over czech barbora
zahlavova strycova on wednesday
safina the second seed made nine more unforced errors to than her
th ranked opponent in winning in minutes
however she could never accused of playing conservatively and also belted
winners while zahlavova strycova hit just seven
safina was satisfied with the win but admitted there was plenty of room for
improvement
in some moments played not bad but it good that won the match and still
there is so much room to improve said safina comprehensively beaten in the
final here last year by serena williams
that such good thing you know deep inside you have so much more to bring
out
think the serve was pretty good today and won in the next match can
do little bit more and more
safina admitted though that she needed to cut down on her mistakes
overall think was too many unforced errors she said
and in the second set it was too many break points
the biggest drama for the big russian came when serving for each set facing
multiple break points each time
when the year old served for the match in the second set she had to come
from down and save four break points to close it out
it was match where the emotions of both players were laid bare for all to see
the pair taking it in turns to vocalise their frustrations about missed
opportunities
zahlavova strycova frustration was understandable as he was unable to convert
any of nine break points while safina made two of just six
the pair had split their two previous encounters although their last meeting
was back in
safina will face unseeded englishwoman elena baltacha in the third round
she good player she won two matches and she has nothing to lose she
said of baltacha so basically just want to go out there and do better than
did today and play better
al qaeda could provoke new india pakistan war gates
new delhi jan afp
al qaeda is seeking to de stabilise the entire south asia region and could
trigger war between nuclear armed pakistan and india us defence secretary
robert gates told reporters on wednesday
groups under al qaeda syndicate in afghanistan and pakistan are trying to
destabilise not just afghanistan not just pakistan but potentially the whole
region by provoking conflict perhaps between india and pakistan through some
provocative act gates said during visit to new delhi
it important to recognise the magnitude of the threat that the entire region
faces he said following talks with his indian counterpart antony
gates cited three main groups operating under al qaeda umbrella the taliban
forces fighting in afghanistan taliban elements targeting pakistan government
and the islamist group lashkar taiba let in pakistan focused on india
although he praised india for exercising restraint after the mumbai attacks
which delhi blamed on let gates suggested india could not be expected to
remain restrained if it was attacked again
think it not unreasonable to assume india patience would be limited were
there to be further attacks he said
the mumbai assault left dead and india has demanded pakistan come under more
international pressure to rein in militant groups on its soil
gates described india as vital partner in the struggle against extremist
threats expressed appreciation for its economic aid to afghanistan and said
that he discussed how to bolster us india military cooperation
eight killed in us gun rampage reports
washington jan afp
gunman shot dead eight people during rampage in the us state of virginia on
tuesday us media reported
police have only confirmed several fatalities in the rampage by man in the
small virginia town of appomattox but the washington post and other media
reported at least eight dead
eight dead in virginia shooting us media
washington jan afp
gunman shot dead eight people during rampage in the us state of virginia on
tuesday us media reported
alert
eight shot dead in virginia shooting us media
tennis monfils eases into third round
melbourne jan afp
france gael monfils reached the third round of the australian open wednesday
with the th seed beating croatia antonio veic in straight sets
tennis li and zheng left to shoulder asian hopes
melbourne jan afp
chinese stars li na and zheng jie were left to shoulder asian hopes at the
australian open wednesday after veterans tamarine tanasugarn and kimiko date
krumm were bundled out
it was familiar story with li and zheng routinely being the last left standing
from region that boasted contenders on day one
li asia top player and seeded after stellar stormed into the
second round with romp over new zealand marina erakovic as she
wrapped up match postponed from tuesday due to rain on the opening day
zheng who made the fourth round last year is deeper into the tournament after
beating spain th seed maria jose martinez sanchez for third
round berth
it sets her up with clash against th seeded frenchwoman marion bartoli
quarter finalist last year as zheng seeks to match her exploits in
since both players severed ties with china state sports system last year to
manage their own careers and keep all of their prizemoney li has flourished
more
moving up to in the world and having made the fourth round at roland garros
and her second grand slam quarter final appearance at the us open last year she
is now targetting the top
the goal for me this year is to break into the top yeah that good
goal she said after her victory
while li and zheng stayed alive tamarine was sent packing by comeback queen kim
clijsters but not before giving the belgian decent run for her money
clijsters went into the match as the overwhelming favourite against the
experienced year old campaigner but was made to work hard for over
minutes on the rod laver arena before grinding out win
tamarine had her chances and was kicking herself afterwards saying she got
herself into good positions by changing tactics but couldn find the killer
touch
nevertheless she said she enjoyed herself and had no plans to retire
right now actually enjoying my tennis more than before she said
before it was like you have to keep up your ranking you have to step up your
game and improve everything
now just enjoying the tour doing the best can and enjoying the tour
another veteran still on the tour is japan date krumm former world number
four who came out of retirement in
she is now her country highest ranked player but was overpowered by
kazakhstan yaroslava shvedova in her first round match
date krumm who turns in september said she planned to return to the
tournament in saying her game was better now than year ago
still feel can keep going she said played three seeds at the sydney
international and feel okay
my level has gone up over the past year and think have better chances now
against the better players
among other asians in action taiwan chang kai chen was knocked out by czech
iveta benesova
tennis jankovic crushes england brien
melbourne jan afp
serbia eighth seeded jelena jankovic crushed katie brien of england
in the second round of the australian open on wednesday setting up third
round clash with ukraine alona bondarenko
greek police officer on trial for killing that sparked riots
amfissa greece jan afp
the trial of greek police officer accused of shooting teenager year ago
opened wednesday amid tight security after threats by anarchists
epaminondas korkoneas is accused of fatally shooting year old alexis
grigoropoulos during december night patrol in the bohemian athens
district of exarchia the incident sparked several days of riots
he is on trial for voluntary homicide the hearing was immediately adjourned
following defence request
one far left extremist group threatened to kill the officer prompting
authorities to send more than police to the small town of amfissa
kilometres miles northwest of athens where the trial was held
the trial was relocated from athens because of security concerns and greece
supreme court has rejected bids by the teenager family to move it back to the
capital
korkoneas says he fired in the air to disperse youths including grigoropoulos
who threw stones at his squad car
an autopsy report indicated that the boy was hit by bullet that ricocheted
onto him but lawyers for the boy family point to the testimony of witnesses
who say the policeman took aim and fired
korkoneas partner vassilios saraliotis is also on trial accused of
complicity to voluntary homicide
al qaeda could provoke new india pakistan war gates
new delhi jan afp
al qaeda is seeking to de stabilise the entire south asia region and could
trigger new war between pakistan and india us defence secretary robert gates
told reporters on wednesday
groups under al qaeda syndicate in afghanistan and pakistan are trying to
destabilise not just afghanistan not just pakistan but potentially the whole
region by provoking conflict perhaps between india and pakistan through some
provocative act gates said during visit to new delhi
german producer prices drop in december on year statistics
frankfurt jan afp
german producer prices the cost of goods at the factory gate fell in december
official data showed wednesday but the pace of decline slowed as volatile
changes in energy prices began to have less effect
for all of however the index of producer prices for german industrial
products fell by percent from the previous year the biggest annual decline
since statistics were first compiled in the federal statistics office
said
in december producer prices shed percent from the same month in but
slipped by just percent from november the destatis office said
fears of deflation have eased meanwhile as consumer prices in germany and the
rest of the nation eurozone posted increased in recent months
energy prices were responsible for three quarters of the annualised decline in
december producer price index destatis said posting an overall drop of
percent from the same month year earlier
oil prices have recovered an upward trend however as world demand for crude
picks up again and economists do not expect producer prices to keep falling for
much longer
french deficit projections lowered minister
paris jan afp
the french government has lowered its public deficit estimates for both and
budget minister eric woerth said wednesday
we ll be at percent of gdp for the public sphere in woerth told
france television
the government until now had foreseen shortfall of percent the
figure while better than expected remains well above the percent limit
stipulated for countries in the eurozone
the public deficit covers state and local spending along with social welfare
accounts
the government is later wednesday to present an updated version of its
budget that takes account of the revised data
for authorities now predict public deficit of about percent rather
than percent
urgent al qaeda could provoke new india pakistan war gates
new delhi jan afp
the al qaeda network poses serious threat to the entire south asia region and
could try to provoke new war between pakistan and india us defense secretary
robert gates said wednesday
cycling armstrong terrified by peloton racing
adelaide australia jan afp
lance armstrong is used to leading races so he admitted he terrified of
riding in the tightly packed peloton as he pursues an ambitious comeback
armstrong hoping to stay injury free as he targets an eighth tour de france
title at has been deep in the chasing group over the first two stages of
this year tour down under placing nd and th
feels lot safer up front believe it or not he said it lot faster and
you get little bit of bumping but it crazy when you re back in
you re just terrified
seem to be enjoying it it not something ve done before but it fun to
try
armstrong ended three and half year retirement here last year but broke his
collar bone in crash three months later threatening his tour de france
campaign the texan eventually placed third
dozens of riders were floored by mass pile up just after the start on day one
while about went down in the closing section of wednesday stage two
armstrong said he was also getting used to tactics such as the train where
teams ride in line to put their fastest men in position for sprint
little bit like fish out of water there the tgv on the tour de
france is the last train ve been on he joked
we re not used to doing train we ve never practised that only talked about
it little bit so it not our forte but we re doing all right
prince william eyes sydney real estate
sydney jan afp
britain visiting prince william said wednesday he was so thrilled by his warm
welcome to sydney that he like to buy house in the australian harbourside
city
william told guests at traditional australian waterfront barbecue in his
honour that he had enjoyed the most warm welcome ever not just with the
weather but with all sydney people
it has been terrific couple of days in sydney and because of that ve joked
that will actually try and buy house in sydney the prince said
so if any of you have got any properties for sale then please let me know
the prince was mobbed by hundreds of well wishers when he arrived at the
gathering which offered him stunning views of the city famed opera house and
harbour bridge on the second day of three day whistlestop tour of australia
dressed casually in an open collared shirt and loafers the prince enthused
about his surroundings gesturing across glittering waters to the opera house
which sat against cloudless blue sky
what view it is too ve always wanted to see the opera house said
william in his first public remarks since landing in australia on tuesday
the last time was here and saw it it was through very small eyes and
don quite remember very much about it
the open air barbecue topped off two day stay in sydney for the young prince
who last visited australia in the arms of his late mother princess diana when
he was just nine months old in
william requested the unofficial trip as way to get to know the country and
its people taking in poor inner city aboriginal neighbourhood and rehab
