sentiment was helped after data from washington showed seasonally adjusted
initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in the week ending december
stood at fall of from the previous week the figure is the
lowest since july
but hong kong was percent lower at while shanghai dropped
percent to
banks and property developers led the decline in shanghai on worries about
possible tightening of monetary policy amid inflation concerns
china dealers ignored two surveys showing strong manufacturing sector
the hsbc china manufacturing purchasing managers index rose to in december
from in november the survey showed
reading above indicates expansion while reading below points to an
overall decline
separate pmi published by the china federation of logistics and purchasing
showed manufacturing activity rose to percent in december the highest in
months
the tokyo stock exchange reported smooth debut for its new faster trading
arrowhead trading system which can process orders in seconds much
faster than before and on par with new york and london
the new technology was brought in following number of problems including the
suspension of trading in all shares because of software problem which
tarnished the bourse reputation in the face of growing competition
meanwhile singapore announced its economy shrank percent in the fourth
quarter compared with the previous three months however the drop was not as
big as expected and gross domestic product actually rose percent year on
year
the data was largely ignored by the city state stock market which closed
percent lower at on profit taking after hitting month high last
week
oil jumped above dollars barrel after russia cut its supplies to neighbour
belarus due to row over tariffs
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery in february
rose cents to dollars barrel
gold closed higher in hong kong at us dollars an ounce from
thursday dollars
elsewhere seoul rose percent to taipei ended up percent at
while jakarta was percent higher at kuala lumpur added
percent to and mumbai put on percent to
manila dropped percent to and bangkok edged percent down to
wellington was closed for holiday
yemen security kills two qaeda suspects tribal source
dubai jan afp
yemen security forces killed two suspected al qaeda members and wounded three
others monday in clash north of the capital tribal source said
the clash comes as yemeni authorities intensify operations against osama bin
laden terror network in the impoverished country which is believed by the
united states to be haven for the extremists
security forces hunting suspected al qaeda member nazih al hanq came under
attack by his group near arhab kilometres miles north of sanaa between
al hanq and beit boussan villages the source told afp requesting anonymity
two of hanq bodyguards were killed and three others were wounded while he
managed to escape the source added
us president barack obama has accused the yemen based al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap of arming and training nigerian accused of trying to blow up
detroit bound northwest airlines jet on christmas day
aqap claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on
embassies in yemen which were under tighter security on monday with the
missions of the united states and britain closing their doors
china calls for consensus on iran nuclear programme
beijing jan afp
china on monday called on iran to agree to consensus on un proposal on
nuclear fuel supplies for its research reactor after tehran said it had until
january to agree on the uranium swap deal
we have noted the reports on the deadline foreign ministry spokeswoman jiang
yu said in statement
the chinese side supports consensus by all concerned parties at an early date
on the draft agreement put forward by the international atomic energy agency
the un nuclear watchdog jiang said
iranian foreign minister manouchehr mottaki said on saturday tehran had until
the end of january to reach uranium swap deal stressing it will press on with
plans to produce higher enriched nuclear fuel if there is no agreement
tehran has already ignored us set december deadline to accept the iaea
brokered deal aimed at allaying fears about its nuclear drive by shipping most
of its low enriched uranium leu stockpile abroad to be further enriched into
reactor fuel
despite the threat of tougher sanctions iran has rejected the offer drawn up by
the un agency and come out with its own proposal of simultaneous and staged
swap of leu with reactor fuel
world powers have been pushing for iran to accept the un brokered deal and are
also mulling fresh un sanctions after tehran dismissed the year end deadline
iran is already under three sets of un security council sanctions over its
defiance and refusal to suspend enrichment which lies at the heart of
international fears about its nuclear programme
china is involved in the talks that also include britain france germany
russia and the united states
afp animated graphics advisory
paris jan afp
we will move the following animated graphic
body scanners
interactive graphic on full body scanners the controversial
security measure which scans beneath clothing already used at
us airports and being tested at many international airports
format adobe flash cs player px scanneren gmt
slug us attacks security airport scanner
afp animated graphics
peter shard tel
more than die as cold wave grips india officials
lucknow india jan afp
more than people have died in cold snap gripping northern india which
prompted the authorities on monday to shut thousands of schools and dole out
firewood officials said
india most populous state uttar pradesh has recorded cold related deaths
since saturday police spokesman soren srivastava said in the state capital
lucknow
uttar pradesh chief bureaucrat arun kumar gupta said all schools and colleges
were shut for four days until thursday as health precaution
gupta said state authorities on monday also decided to spend million rupees
million dollars to hand out free blankets and much needed firewood to the
needy in freezing uttar pradesh which borders nepal
he said most of the victims were homeless people
night temperatures across northern india currently range between minus
degrees celsius and nine degrees celsius and degrees fahrenheit
according to weather reports
uttar pradesh government spokesman diwakar tripathy meanwhile said an exercise
was underway to move the homeless into state run night shelters
the press trust of india pti news agency earlier had reported dead in uttar
pradesh quoting official sources
in adjoining bihar india second most populous state spokesman from its
disaster management unit reported cold related deaths since sunday and added
all local schools were shut for three days from monday
private welfare agencies however estimate more than people may have succumbed
to the cold in bihar one of india most impoverished states since last month
pti on monday reported cold related death in hilly uttarakhand state
over the weekend airline and railway schedules were severely affected due to
fog blanketing north india with poor visibility causing three train accidents
that claimed lives
new delhi airport spokesman anirudh chatterjee told afp that passenger
flights were delayed cancelled and others rescheduled over the weekend
due to bad weather
tennis wickmayer shines without ban threat in auckland
auckland jan afp
belgian yanina wickmayer celebrated her return to competitive tennis with
first round win in the asb auckland classic on monday her first match since
being freed from one year ban
having received wild card to play in auckland three weeks after the ban for
breaching anti doping regulations was lifted the tournament third seed beat her
unseeded german opponent julia goerges
was really happy to play wickmayer said
it been tough time for me so it was really nice for me to be on court
again and compete
wickmayer who was initially suspended for failing to fulfil the whereabouts
rule regarding drugs tests made few unforced errors in the windy conditions and
served with greater accuracy than goerges
the world number raced through the opening set and led in the second
before dropping serve for the first time in the match she immediately broke
back to claim victory
wickmayer said her greater aggression at crucial moments was the key to the
outcome
she was playing really well but was the more aggressive on important
points she said
it was tough one and glad pulled through
wickmayer will next face the winner of the match between romanian ioana raluca
olaru and british qualifier elena baltacha
top seed flavia pennetta also made it safely through the opening round taking
just minutes to beat american veteran jill craybas
the italian world number admitted to some nerves before her first outing of
the new season and did not feel on top of her game
really happy because didn think played my best tennis but was able
to go through this match she said
she will now play the winner of the match between carla suarez navarro of spain
and romanian qualifier edina gallovits
avalanches hit swiss alps at least five killed
geneva jan afp
series of avalanches struck the swiss alps at the weekend killing at least
five people with three still missing emergency services and police said monday
the first avalanche hit on sunday after am gmt in the central
switzerland bernese alps killing skier they said emergency services were
searching for survivors when another struck half an hour later
eight helicopters carrying doctors rescuers and avalanche dogs were despatched
to the disaster site and pulled out eight people alive
some of the survivors were in critical condition and three died later in
hospital including doctor who had arrived to treat people following the first
avalanche
rescuers also found the body of hiker buried in the snow while three other
people were reported missing police from the canton of bern said in
statement
in switzerland western canton of valais mountain guide and his client were
hit by an avalanche at around pm on sunday officials said
the guide was able to get out alive but his client was killed the body found
buried under cm inches of snow
the swiss institute for snow and avalanche research said there remained
considerable avalanche danger in much of the swiss alps monday although the
risk was forecast to be lower on tuesday and wednesday
euro manufacturing output narrowly up in december survey
brussels jan afp
manufacturing activity across the eurozone expanded in december but at slower
pace than initially detected and with the shadow of price pressures building
survey showed on monday
the nation euro currency bloc purchasing managers index pmi for the
manufacturing sector published by data and research group markit rose to
points in december from points in november
it was the third month running in which the widely watched reading has been
above the crucial boom or bust line but the readings were uneven
output of investment goods and consumer goods rose fastest while new orders
increased for the fifth consecutive month
the rate of job losses eased slightly and italy joined france and germany in
taking sigificant leap forward
however it was the th month in row in which people overall left the
workforce instead of joining it and irish output fell while the downturns in
crisis hit greece and spain remained entrenched
the final december readings confirm that eurozone manufacturing ended the year
on positive note with the headline pmi at month high said markit
senior economist rob dobson
although this was tempered by the lower than flash outcomes for the output and
new orders indexes the rates of increase signalled for both these variables
still represent marked turnaround from the unprecedented downturn at the start
of the year he added
however analysts warned that the trough remains perilously at hand
the pace of expansion could decelerate throughout said clemente de lucia
of bnp paribas adding that the survey started to highlight signs of growth
peaking
indeed several headwinds are likely to weigh on activity he underlined
citing fragile domestic demand and the volume of jobs lost which will combine
with an inflation rebound to choke private consumption
global insight howard archer also noted some potentially worrying
developments highlighting especially an easing back in orders growth amid
the second successive slowdown in the overall rate of improvement
he said the european central bank would only very gradually be able to
withdraw emergency liquidity measures throughout the course of and that
interest rates would have to be kept at historic lows
the nations which use the euro and the wider nation european union home
to half billion people posted expansion in the third quarter of
percent in the eurozone area and percent for the whole eu
afptv advisory
paris jan afp
we will file the following videos
us tightens security for us bound flights
washington
ten days after an al qaeda bid to blow up detroit bound flight the united
states tightened security measures for us bound airline passengers including
mandatory enhanced screening of all travellers from nations some on
terrorism blacklist transport officials said the new measures were part of
drive to put in place long term security measures and that inbound passengers
would be subject to random screening or so called threat based screens
archival footage of us airports voiced news report
news
file footage transmitted by gmt
raw vid
voiced report transmission details to follow on updated advisory
dubai ambition reaches skywards with world largest tower
dubai
the world tallest building is due to be inaugurated in dubai on mondayin the
presence of sheikh mohammed ruler of the gulf state at more than metres
the burj dubai towers above new billion dollar district called downtown
burj dubai which houses the biggest shopping centre in the middle east
news economy
images and soundbites transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
the african nations cup kicks off in angola on sunday as part of our series on
african football we will file the following report
angolans prepare for african nations cup
luanda
angola is racing against the clock to get everything ready for the african
nations cup which kicks off on january after almost decades of civil war
angolans view the tournament as symbol of peace but it is also huge
challenge to modernise the country delapidated infrastructure in time
sport
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
rio police make fresh bid to pacify city favelas
rio de janeiro
authorities in rio de janeiro have long struggled to control the city violent
favelas which remain largely controlled by warring drug gangs now the state
government has adopted fresh strategy seeking to establish permanent
presence in the slums with new police force it the latest attempt to boost
security ahead of the olympics awarded to rio last year amid much fanfare
special report
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
afghan midwives on frontline to save lives
bamiyan afghanistan
decades of war in afghanistan have taken devastating toll on its people who
have the world second highest rate of maternal mortality after sierra leone
dire shortage of clinics and health professionals has led to thousands of
preventable deaths every year though new foreign funded efforts are making
strides in saving women and their babies
special report health and medicine
voiced report already transmitted
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
france joins europe flu vaccine sell off
paris
france has joined other european countries in selling off millions of its
emergency swine flu vaccines after buying far more than needed to fight the
outbreak the government admitted at the weekend france which spent
million euros billion dollars on vaccines for the virus now says
qatar had bought of its doses egypt is in negotiations to buy two
million more and that discussions are under way with mexico and ukraine
archival footage of vaccine production and interview with specialist
news health and medicine
images and soundbites transmitted by gmt
raw vid
web mmv
sun shines on golf growth in china
yalong china
hainan island in the south china sea is fast becoming one of asia finest
golfing destinations with several world class courses and developers rushing to
build dozens more once dependent on foreign players the industry is now being
built on the back of new wave of chinese golfers refile of report
originally transmitted on november
culture and lifestyle sport
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
light therapy clears up those winter blues
paris
feeling the winter gloom but unable to take sunny holiday why not try light
therapy from clearing up skin problems to helping improve your sleep experts
claim that putting yourself under lamp which imitates sunlight is as good as
lying on beach without the sunburn the technique has been used by doctors
for years and is now attracting an ever growing audience refile of report
originally transmitted on jan
culture and lifestyle
voiced report transmitted by gmt
nsv vid
broadcast ready vid
web mmv
contact
michelle hoffman
warwick wise
yemen tightens security around embassies airport
sanaa jan afp
security has been ratcheted up around the airport and foreign embassies in
sanaa yemeni officials said on monday amid fears of strikes by an al qaeda
branch linked to botched attack on us airliner
the measures come as us authorities announced intensifying airport security
checks on passengers travelling from or via terror linked countries
including yemen
the us and british embassies in sanaa remained shut monday after closing their
doors day earlier for what they said were reasons of security officials said
yemeni officials asking not to be named told afp security had been tightened
outside the american and british missions as well as around other foreign
missions in the capital
the us embassy on sunday said it was closing its doors in response to ongoing
threats by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap to attack american interests
in yemen
britain followed suit with spokeswoman for the foreign office in london
confirming its sanaa embassy had been closed for security reasons
us president barack obama has accused the yemen based aqap of arming and
training nigerian accused of trying to blow up detroit bound northwest
airlines jet on christmas day
aqap claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on
embassies in yemen
yemeni security official told afp that police measures were intensified on
the road to the airport following the closure of the us embassy
these measures are preventive in case of any attacks by al qaeda in the
country mainly as the road to sanaa airport is vital he told afp requesting
anonymity
security had already been tight around the us embassy which was the target of
car bomb in september that killed people outside the complex
obama counter terrorism advisor john brennan warned sunday of possible attacks
by al qaeda in yemen
there are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against
target inside of sanaa possibly our embassy he said
washington transport security administration tsa said on sunday that all
passengers flying into the united states from abroad will be subject to random
screening or so called threat based screens
it further mandated that every individual flying into the us from anywhere in
the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism
or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced
screening
among the affected countries are yemen cuba iran sudan syria afghanistan
libya nigeria pakistan and somalia
fears of an attack in yemen grew after aqap urged muslims to attack western
targets in the impoverished arabian peninsula country after claiming the
thwarted airline attack
we call upon every muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist
in expelling the apostasies from the arabian peninsula by killing every
crusader who works at their embassies or other places and declare an all out
war against every crusader on the prophet mohammed peninsula on land air
and sea it said in statement
london and washington meanwhile have agreed to fund yemen special counter
terrorism unit special force which has received us training and assistance
brennan described the move as determined and concerted effort but stressed
washington would not open up new front in yemen by sending in troops to help
the authorities battle islamist militants
the government of yemen the ancestral homeland of al qaeda chief osama bin
laden has welcomed us and british help to fight al qaeda
iranian president visits central asia
dushanbe jan afp
iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad visited the central asian republic of
tajikistan monday on his first international trip since crackdown on
opposition supporters in tehran left at least eight dead
after talks with his tajik counterpart emomali rakhmon ahmadinejad told
journalists the two countries would cooperate on regional security
we will make efforts to ensure security and prevent challenges he said we
are following the situation in afghanistan and pakistan and the region and we
want peace and stability to be established as soon as possible
islamist taliban militants have stepped up violent campaign in afghanistan and
pakistan
rakhmon said the meeting had also expressed support for the realisation of
iran peaceful nuclear programmes and the resolution of this problem through
talks and political and diplomatic methods
the united states israel and other world powers suspect tehran is making
nuclear bomb under the guise of civilian programme something iran vehemently
denies tehran is under threat of more sanctions over its nuclear activities
ahmadinejad also said that tehran intended to continue investing in energy
agriculture and other spheres in tajikistan
it has already put around million dollars into the construction of
hydroelectric power station in tajikistan that is expected to open at the end of
the year
the two leaders signed preliminary memorandum saying that iran would invest in
the construction of second hydroelectric power station
ahmadinejad was later due to meet the speaker of the tajik parliament and
members of the iranian diaspora in tajikistan
he was scheduled to travel on to the central asian republic of turkmenistan on
tuesday to meet president gurbanguly berdymukhamedov and for ceremony
wednesday to open gas pipeline between turkmenistan and iran
ahmadinejad government has come under heavy western criticism for its
crackdown on opposition supporters in december protests in which at least
eight people died and hundreds were arrested
the protests were the bloodiest since demonstrations that erupted directly after
contested june vote that gave ahmadinejad another term authorities said
protesters were killed although the opposition put the toll at
china records swine flu deaths in
beijing jan afp
china said monday it had recorded swine flu deaths in nearly all of
them in the last two months of the year and warned that the danger of mass
outbreaks still existed in certain areas
the health ministry said the total number of infections recorded since
the virus was first detected last year stood at
at the end of october the reported death toll stood at just six the number of
recorded deaths then spiked reaching about at the start of december and
by the end of the month
the danger of an explosion of outbreaks in some places exists and the number
of fatalities and serious cases will remain at rather high level said liang
wannian director of the ministry emergency response office
serious difficulties remained in containing the spread of the virus in rural
areas and at schools liang told press conference
ministry officials had already warned of grim winter flu outlook and are
urging caution ahead of the february lunar new year holidays when hundreds of
millions of people swamp roads and railways to visit family
in november renowned medical whistle blower zhong nanshan who helped expose
the scale of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome said the
true death count was being covered up
the government responded by ordering more accurate case reporting by officials
china has so far vaccinated million people liang said the largest
campaign in the world but still only small proportion of the country
billion people
chinese laboratories were at the forefront of worldwide efforts to develop and
mass produce swine flu vaccine but the quick clinical trials and production
cycle led to concerns that the shot was perhaps unsafe
liang said china vaccine was not linked to the deaths last month of two people
following their inoculations
following confirmation the deaths had nothing to do with the inoculations
liang said without giving the causes of death or any details about the two
deceased
officials have said that adverse reactions were only reported in handful of
cases about one out of million jabs
taipei shrugs off loss of tallest skyscraper title
taipei jan afp
the owners of taipei for the past five years the tallest skyscraper in the
world on monday shrugged off the loss of its title to burj dubai instead
highlighting new attempt to go green
this was to be expected as an increasing number of new skyscrapers have been
under construction in the world over the past few years said michael liu the
spokesman for taipei financial centre corporation in the taiwanese capital
but then again after all we held the title for five years that was no easy
task he told afp
the meter foot taipei which cost billion taiwan dollars
billion us dollars at current exchange rates was the world tallest building
when it was inaugurated in december
but the building has now been dwarfed by burj dubai even though it is unclear
exactly by how much as the owner of the dubai skyscraper has declined to
specify its height saying only that it is at least metres tall
we like to give our blessings to burj dubai liu said adding taipei had
been working to turn itself into an environmentally friendly building
taipei aims to reduce its energy and water consumption by percent under
million taiwan dollar project slated to be completed before the end of this
year at the earliest
the biggest challenge for the building is to persuade all of the business
tenants about employees to cooperate the company said
burj dubai was to be officially inaugurated later monday
tennis auckland classic results
auckland jan afp
results from the first day of the asb auckland classic women tennis tournament
here monday denotes seed
first round
yanina wickmayer bel bt julia goerges ger
flavia pennetta ita bt jill craybas usa
dominika cibulkova svk bt alexandra dulgheru rom
kimiko date krumm jpn bt anna chakvetadze rus
magdalena rybarikova svk bt anabel medina garrigues esp
sri lanka to relax forex controls central bank
colombo jan afp
sri lanka plans to relax its strict foreign exchange controls reflecting new
confidence in the country finances after the end of year conflict on the
island the central bank said monday
sri lankans will be allowed to open foreign bank accounts while local firms
will be able to seek listings in overseas markets according to new laws to be
brought in shortly central bank of sri lanka governor nivard cabraal said
foreigners will also be allowed to invest freely in bonds issued by local
companies and be granted freedom to open sri lankan rupee accounts he added
