default or economic meltdown
ukraine has been on the brink of what appeared to be complete collapse many
many times in the past two decades however it has never quite gone the way
expected managing to rebound each time the bank said
korea proposes talks on resuming tourism projects
seoul jan afp
north korea thursday proposed talks with south korea about resuming lucrative
tourism projects suspended in after seoul housewife was shot dead at
resort in the communist state
the north asia pacific peace committee the state agency in charge of cross
border exchanges suggested meeting on january in message to south
korea unification ministry
it is very regrettable that tours of mount kumgang and the area of kaesong has
been suspended for one and half years the north official news agency
quoted the message as saying
the unification ministry confirmed it received the message
it positive move and we will consider it positively an unidentified
seoul official told yonhap news agency
in further apparent sign that pyongyang wants to improve relations the two
countries have also agreed to hold separate talks next week on ways to
revitalise their jointly run industrial estate in the north
south korea suspended the tours which earned the cash strapped north tens of
millions of dollars year in hard currency after the north army shot dead
the housewife at the scenic mount kumgang resort in july
pyongyang began making peace overtures to seoul last august after months of
bitter hostility which began when conservative south korean government came to
power in february and linked major aid to progress in denuclearisation
some analysts believe the north recent overtures to both south korea and the
united states were prompted by tougher sanctions imposed following its nuclear
and missile tests last year
in november last year the north made proposal through visiting south korean
businesswoman to resume the tours south korea ignored the overture saying it
did not come through official channels
it says the two governments should hold talks to work out firm agreements on the
safety of south korean visitors before the trips can resume
the mount kumgang tours have earned some million dollars in fees for the
north since they began in cross border visitors could also previously take
day trips to the historic city of kaesong just across the frontier
kaesong is also the location of the joint industrial estate where north
koreans work in south korean factories
all the cross border projects are run by south korea hyundai asan company
which has lost millions of dollars since the tours were suspended
the unification ministry said the two sides would meet on tuesday to discuss
ways to develop the kaesong estate following up last month joint survey of
overseas industrial parks
ministry spokesman said he hoped the meeting would develop into regular
forum on developing the project
the kaesong estate is the last joint reconciliation project still operating
after the tours shut down but fears grew early last year that the north may
shut it down as political relations worsened
the north last year ordered hundreds of south koreans to leave the estate
intermittently restricted cross border access to it and demanded huge pay rise
for its workers
in september it dropped demands for the pay rise last month the two sides
inspected industrial plants run by south korean companies in china and vietnam
in the north received million dollars in wage payments from the estate
delhaize to restructure in us after sales dive
brussels jan afp
belgian retail and distribution group delhaize on thursday announced major
restructuring across its principal united states market following sales
slump
partial results published thursday showed global fourth quarter revenues fell by
percent compared to one year earlier to billion euros billion
dollars
three quarters of delhaize sales are based in the us where it posted an
percent drop in dollar terms to billion rising to percent after
conversion
the group is to create from february completely new us operational
structure with the creation of one integrated organisation with common shared
services said chief executive pierre olivier beckers in statement
delhaize operates stores across the us under the food lion bloom harveys
bottom dollar food hannaford and sweetbay brands
support services covering their supply chain it finance human resources
organisational change management legal and government relations
communications strategy and research and corporate development will be shared
across each of these outlets
delhaize ended with stores worldwide and the statement said the
latest element in its new game plan would allow the group to create greater
efficiencies and scale eliminate redundancies become more flexible in the
integration of acquisitions and ultimately better serve our banners and
customers
to reflect that restructuring delhaize logged million euro pre tax fourth
quarter charge
the group reported growth in its other markets belgium greece romania and
indonesia
alert
zionist methods used to kill iran nuclear scientist ahmadinejad
france kuwait sign nuclear cooperation deal
kuwait city jan afp
kuwait and france signed on thursday cooperation agreement for the peaceful
use of nuclear energy officials said
the oil rich emirate had announced plans to set up civilian nuclear project
mainly to produce power and also established national committee for the
peaceful use of nuclear energy
this is the first step of cooperation and to share experience in the nuclear
field the head of france atomic energy commission bernard bigot told
reporters during visit to parliament
it is to help kuwait develop nuclear energy and to assist it to decide
for its future needs bigot said
the secretary general of kuwait national committee on nuclear energy ahmad
bishara said the agreement does not stipulate the building of nuclear power
plant at this stage
but he added that kuwait has the will the resources and the need to do so
the year agreement allows the supply of nuclear material equipment and
facilities and is subject to international treaties
it also envisions training exchange of technology information and research
last june french economy minister christine lagarde held talks with kuwaiti
officials over their plans to eventually build nuclear power plant
lagarde said kuwait emir crown prince and prime minister proposed to pursue
deepen and accelerate cooperation on the nuclear project
kuwait emir sheikh sabah al ahmad al sabah said in february that the nuclear
project aims to produce electricity in bid to save large quantities of fuel
being consumed by power and water desalination plants
kuwait has no military ambitions in the nuclear field and its programme will be
within international law and standards he said
the six nation gulf cooperation council is planning joint nuclear technology
programme for peaceful use under international rules
the gcc interest in developing atomic energy comes amid continuing standoff
between the west and iran over its programme of uranium enrichment
western nations believe tehran is using its nuclear programme to secretly
develop an atomic bomb claim denied by iran which maintains its nuclear
activities are peaceful
cricket south africa england scoreboard
johannesburg jan afp
scores at lunch on the first day of the fourth test between south africa and
england at the wanderers stadium on thursday
england first innings
strauss amla steyn
cook lbw morkel
trott lbw morkel
pietersen parnell morkel
collingwood not out
bell not out
extras lb
total wkts overs
fall of wickets strauss trott pietersen cook
to bat prior broad swann anderson sidebottom
bowling steyn morkel mclaren parnell
kallis
south africa graeme smith captain ashwell prince hashim amla jacques
kallis ab de villiers jp duminy mark boucher wkt ryan mclaren dale steyn
morne morkel wayne parnell
match position england are for four in the first innings
toss england
umpires steve davis aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire daryl harper aus
match referee roshan mahanama sri
icrc says to send tonnes of medical aid to haiti
geneva jan afp
the international red cross is sending tonnes of medical supplies to haiti
thursday to help thousands who have been injured during this week deadly
earthquake spokesman told afp
the relief supplies which would be sent by air cargo contain special kits
usually used in treating those wounded during conflicts as well as basic kits
that that would cover medical needs of people over three months said
spokesman florian westphal
team of members of the international committee of the red cross including
two who will be in charge of reuniting families left geneva thursday morning
for haitian capital port au prince
the icrc also expects to send in the coming days an expert in charge of
treating and identifying the bodies added westphal
earlier thursday the icrc said it has set up special webpage to help haitians
locate family members from whom they have been separated during the
earthquake that struck on tuesday
tennis sydney international results collated
sydney jan afp
results from the fifth day of the sydney international wta atp tennis tournament
on thursday denotes seed
women
semi finals
serena williams usa bt aravane rezai fra
elena dementieva rus bt victoria azarenka blr
men
quarter finals
richard gasquet fra bt potito starace ita
julien benneteau fra bt leonardo mayer arg
marcos baghdatis cyp bt lleyton hewitt aus
mardy fish usa bt peter luczak aus
corrected algerian oil firm chief in fraud probe reports
algiers jan afp
the head of algeria national oil corporation sonatrach has been suspended from
his job and ordered to appear before investigators probing corruption news
reports said thursday
officials at algeria biggest company were unavailable for comment but source
at the firm who asked not to be named said mohamed meziane had been replaced in
his job since wednesday by vice president abdelhafid feghouli
an examining magistrate has ordered meziane as well as another company vice
president and five executives to appear before him concerning allegations of
corruption in company tenders for consultacy and security contracts the el
watan and el khabar newspapers reported
two other sonatrach vice presidents the former president of bank and his son
as well as two children of meziane and private businessman have already been
detained as part of the probe el watan said
meziane was appointed in september to head algeria biggest firm which
employs people and made billion dollars billions euros profits
in on annual turnover of billion dollars according to company
figures
chavez suspends power cuts in caracas
caracas jan afp
venezuelan president hugo chavez has ordered the suspension of power blackouts
in the capital saying they were having undesirable effects on an angry and
confused population
the government announced tuesday sweeping power cuts across wide swathes of
caracas as well as the whole country amid drought driven energy crisis
have noticed that there have been undesirable effects from the planned cuts
announced yesterday tuesday chavez told state television vtv in comments
aired early thursday
want to tell the people that only in caracas have ordered suspension to
the power cuts he said adding that he had made his decision shortly before
one of the cuts was to begin at midnight wednesday
chavez said he had also called for the resignation of his newly appointed energy
minister angel rodriguez
the government must be able to recognize and correct errors in time
mistakes have been made on technical level poor decisions have been made and
therefore assume responsibility the leftist president said
the power cuts would continue as planned throughout the rest of the country
venezuelans reacted with anger and confusion wednesday as the government
power saving campaign kicked in
in the capital thriving central la candelaria neighborhood homeowners and
shopkeepers alike threw up their hands in frustration at the cuts
we don know anything nobody knows anything if they turn off the
electricity we ll have to close nothing will be sold and things will go bad
family grocery owner irene de freitas told afp
in caracas power cuts were to take place on alternate days in specific sectors
at certain times the head of state run electricidad de caracas said tuesday
the rest of the country still faces power cuts that could last until the start
of the rainy season in may
there was confusion as to when and where the power cuts would start
rather have it at night because if it happens during the day it would hurt
us lot said jorge costa who runs an arepa cornbread stand that was full
of customers wednesday
in an office building nearby security guards had told workers on all nine
floors that the elevators and faucets would stop working at midday the start of
an announced four hour power cut
in the upscale chacao neighborhood people got together and improvised human
traffic light system to keep traffic flowing during the power cuts
venezuela is flush with oil the country chief export and natural gas but
meets domestic energy demand with electricity generated by its massive guri dam
hydroelectric complex on the orinoco river which supplies percent of the
nation power needs
but with drought affecting large swathes of latin america water levels at the
guri dam have dropped to critical nine meters feet below normal and are
still falling at rate of centimeters four inches daily experts said
the government blames the drought on the cyclical el nino climate pattern
just hours before reversing his caracas order chavez on wednesday fielded
public complaints over the new measures
it hasn rained neither chavez or the government is to blame it just hasn
rained he said in televised speech
now it the rich and middle class who get angry and what do they want do you
want only the poor to be rationed that how it was before chavez said
calling on everybody to accept the electricity cuts they are necessary
just like when you re fat and you ve got to go on diet and exercise
the power cuts compound daily woes for venezuelans that lately include other
cost cutting measures ranging from water rationing to major devaluation of the
bolivar
wall street lead lifts asia shares
hong kong jan afp
renewed optimism over an improving global economic picture helped most asian
shares rise thursday following stronger lead from wall street but fears
lingered over china monetary policy
sentiment was boosted by strong australian jobs data and wall street more
positive outlook on the earnings season shrugging off earlier disappointment
after broad sell off in the previous session was sparked by beijing move to
hike the amount banks must hold in reserves china gained percent
the shanghai composite index closed up points at
shares were also lifted by plans to encourage consolidation between telecom
broadcast and internet firms
however hong kong reversed earlier gains to end percent lower as some
policy sensitive banks and property developers fell with worries over further
tightening at the forefront of investors minds
hong kong ended the day points off at
china banks and developers may still witness some selling pressure ahead as
china policy risks still prevail linus yip at first shanghai told dow jones
newswires
sydney closed percent higher with sentiment buoyed by stronger than
expected jobs data and record breaking quarterly iron ore sales from mining
giant rio tinto
the amp asx index gained points to on bigger than expected
fall in australia unemployment rate to percent in december down from
november revised figure of percent
tokyo closed up percent as troubled carrier japan airlines jal pulled out
of tailspin after several days of heavy losses
the nikkei index climbed points to
jal shares rose one yen to eight yen following plunge of almost percent
over the previous two days sparked by signs that the debt ridden carrier is
close to filing for bankruptcy protection and delisting its stock
seoul closed percent higher with the kospi up points at
asia followed wall street lead after the dow jones industrial average rose
percent to close at
the us market shook off disappointing earnings report from aluminium giant
alcoa earlier this week while the federal reserve beige book report which
said the economy is seeing broader improvement in activity also boosted
sentiment
the euro was higher in asia as investors anticipated upbeat factory data from
the eurozone ahead of monetary policy meeting by the european central bank
the euro firmed to dollars in tokyo trade from in new york late
wednesday it also gained to yen from the dollar edged up to
yen from
oil rebounded in asia after an overnight plunge on key us department of energy
report that indicated weaker demand in the united states
in london trade new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery
in february rose cents to dollars per barrel
the contract had shed dollars in new york wednesday
london brent north sea crude for february gained cents to dollars
barrel
hong kong gold closed higher at us dollars from wednesday
finish of dollars
in other markets
singapore closed percent or points higher at
asian media giant singapore press holdings was up cents or percent at
dollars day after reporting its financial first quarter net profit
nearly doubled from year ago
taipei closed up points or percent at
the bourse recovered much of the ground lost in the previous session indicating
the upward trend of the market remains unchanged said chen yu yu of capital
securities
indonesia gained percent or points to
late profit taking by foreign funds in resources related shares offset some
gains of the main index trader said
bank danamon advanced percent to rupiah while car distributor astra
international gained percent to rupiah
kuala lumpur rose points or percent to close at
lower liners again dominated trade while latex glove makers continued to
attract strong buying interest dealer said
top glove gained percent to ringgit malaysia airports rose
percent to and malaysia airlines was down percent to
bangkok added percent or points to close at
energy giant ptt plc rose baht to baht and coal producer banpu
jumped baht to baht
manila closed percent or points higher at
first philippine holdings rose percent to pesos while philippine
long distance telephone gained percent to pesos
wellington ended flat with rises in sydney supporting an otherwise
lacklustre market
the nzx index rose points to
mumbai rose percent or points to
metal oil and commodity stocks were main gainers
india largest private firm reliance industries rose percent to
while engineering giant bharat heavy electricals ltd rose percent to
the country largest software exporter tcs fell percent to day
before it releases third quarter earnings
wall street lead lifts asia shares
hong kong jan afp
renewed optimism over an improving global economic picture helped most asian
shares rise thursday following stronger lead from wall street but fears
lingered over china monetary policy
sentiment was boosted by strong australian jobs data and wall street more
positive outlook on the earnings season shrugging off earlier disappointment
after broad sell off in the previous session was sparked by beijing move to
hike the amount banks must hold in reserves china gained percent
the shanghai composite index closed up points at
shares were also lifted by plans to encourage consolidation between telecom
broadcast and internet firms
however hong kong reversed earlier gains to end percent lower as some
policy sensitive banks and property developers fell with worries over further
tightening at the forefront of investors minds
hong kong ended the day points off at
china banks and developers may still witness some selling pressure ahead as
china policy risks still prevail linus yip at first shanghai told dow jones
newswires
sydney closed percent higher with sentiment buoyed by stronger than
expected jobs data and record breaking quarterly iron ore sales from mining
giant rio tinto
the amp asx index gained points to on bigger than expected
fall in australia unemployment rate to percent in december down from
november revised figure of percent
tokyo closed up percent as troubled carrier japan airlines jal pulled out
of tailspin after several days of heavy losses
the nikkei index climbed points to
jal shares rose one yen to eight yen following plunge of almost percent
over the previous two days sparked by signs that the debt ridden carrier is
close to filing for bankruptcy protection and delisting its stock
seoul closed percent higher with the kospi up points at
asia followed wall street lead after the dow jones industrial average rose
percent to close at
the us market shook off disappointing earnings report from aluminium giant
alcoa earlier this week while the federal reserve beige book report which
said the economy is seeing broader improvement in activity also boosted
sentiment
the euro was higher in asia as investors anticipated upbeat factory data from
the eurozone ahead of monetary policy meeting by the european central bank
the euro firmed to dollars in tokyo trade from in new york late
wednesday it also gained to yen from the dollar edged up to
yen from
oil rebounded in asia after an overnight plunge on key us department of energy
report that indicated weaker demand in the united states
in london trade new york main futures contract light sweet crude for delivery
in february rose cents to dollars per barrel
the contract had shed dollars in new york wednesday
london brent north sea crude for february gained cents to dollars
barrel
hong kong gold closed higher at us dollars from wednesday
finish of dollars
in other markets
singapore closed percent or points higher at
asian media giant singapore press holdings was up cents or percent at
dollars day after reporting its financial first quarter net profit
nearly doubled from year ago
taipei closed up points or percent at
the bourse recovered much of the ground lost in the previous session indicating
the upward trend of the market remains unchanged said chen yu yu of capital
securities
indonesia gained percent or points to
late profit taking by foreign funds in resources related shares offset some
gains of the main index trader said
bank danamon advanced percent to rupiah while car distributor astra
international gained percent to rupiah
kuala lumpur rose points or percent to close at
lower liners again dominated trade while latex glove makers continued to
attract strong buying interest dealer said
top glove gained percent to ringgit malaysia airports rose
percent to and malaysia airlines was down percent to
bangkok added percent or points to close at
energy giant ptt plc rose baht to baht and coal producer banpu
jumped baht to baht
manila closed percent or points higher at
first philippine holdings rose percent to pesos while philippine
long distance telephone gained percent to pesos
wellington ended flat with rises in sydney supporting an otherwise
lacklustre market
the nzx index rose points to
mumbai rose percent or points to
metal oil and commodity stocks were main gainers
india largest private firm reliance industries rose percent to
while engineering giant bharat heavy electricals ltd rose percent to
the country largest software exporter tcs fell percent to day
before it releases third quarter earnings
france ready to cover part of costs minister
paris jan afp
france said thurday it was ready to cover part of the cost overruns from the
airbus military transport plane project ahead of meeting in london on
the future of the troubled programme
defence minister herve morin estimated the additional costs at about five
billion euros seven billion dollars although some experts have set the figure
much higher at billion euros
not bothered by the fact that we would have to pay part of the cost
overruns because believe this is magnificent programme morin told rfi
radio
we must still negotiate and these additional costs have to be shared between
the countries and the manufacturer he added
airbus chief executive tom enders warned on tuesday that the company might be
forced to scrap the long delayed programme if its european backers fail to put
up more cash to cover cost overruns by the end of the month
developing the high tech transport planes has proved much more costly and
time consuming than anticipated when the project was agreed in by nato
members germany spain france britain turkey belgium and luxembourg
total of aircraft have been ordered for about billion euros billion
dollars but the project partners are being asked to plough in more money and
germany appears reluctant to come up with more financing
officials from the seven countries and airbus are due to hold behind closed
doors talks in london on the future of the programme on thursday
the french defence minister is hoping for cost sharing agreement before the
end of january and ahead of nato defence ministers meeting in istanbul on
february and
iom wants tents tents and more tents for haiti
geneva jan afp
the international organisation for migration appealed for tents to shelter
homeless survivors of haiti huge earthquake as it geared up thursday to
distribute essential supplies
what we need is tents tents and more tents we need large or individual tents
whatever is available and financial support quickly vincent houver the iom
chief of mission in haiti said in statement
the iom said it would provide tarpaulins plastic sheeting jerry cans and water
containers from stocks already in the impoverished nation to help some
families
but houver said far greater level of support is needed to help people
traumatised by tuesday magnitude quake which haiti prime minister has
warned may have left more than dead
the agency which has been working in the country since said it was
deploying team of experts to boost relief operations on the ground
the iom has employees on the ground while it has managed to contact all its
foreign staff who number about it has been unable to contact some of its
local staff although it would not give specific figure
algerian oil firm chief in fraud probe reports
alger jan afp
the head of algeria national oil corporation sonatrach has been suspended from
his job and ordered to appear before investigators probing corruption news
reports said thursday
officials at algeria biggest company were unavailable for comment but source
at the firm who asked not to be named said mohamed meziane had been replaced in
his job since wednesday by vice president abdelhafid feghouli
an examining magistrate has ordered meziane as well as another company vice
president and five executives to appear before him concerning allegations of
corruption in company tenders for consultacy and security contracts the el
watan and el khabar newspapers reported
two other sonatrach vice presidents the former president of bank and his son
as well as two children of meziane and private businessman have already been
detained as part of the probe el watan said
meziane was appointed in september to head algeria biggest firm which
employs people and made billion dollars billions euros profits
in on annual turnover of billion dollars according to company
figures
russian officer held for snow plough road rage killing
moscow jan afp
russian police officer has been arrested for shooting snow plough driver and
leaving him to bleed to death in the street after dispute arising from car
accident investigators said thursday
according to investigators the lieutenant colonel anatoly maurin collided with
the snow plough in southern moscow in the early hours of december
after an argument maurin shot the year old driver in the knee with an air
