egypt policy of shooting migrants has generated harsh criticism from human
rights groups police killed migrants last year along the border the
migrants say they try to leave egypt because of poverty and racism
cairo is separately building an underground barrier along egypt border with
the gaza strip in bid to stem smuggling into the impoverished blockaded
coastal enclave
foreign minister ahmed abul gheit implicitly confirmed the construction last
month following reports in israeli and egyptian newspapers
network of tunnels beneath the egypt gaza border provides crucial economic
lifeline to gaza which has been sealed off from all but vital humanitarian aid
by israel and egypt since hamas took over in june
boxing uchiyama wins wba super feather crown
tokyo jan afp
japan takashi uchiyama shocked juan carlos salgado of mexico in technical
knockout victory to become the new world boxing association wba super
featherweight champion on monday
the knockout came two minutes seconds into the th round after uchiyama
unleashed powerful punches from both flanks to floor salgado the referee
stopped the bout shortly before the final gong
the year old uchiyama ranked third in the wba improved his unbeaten
professional record to wins including kos against no defeat
salgado who took the title in october last year with technical knockout
in the first round against jorge linares of venezuela saw his record reduced to
wins including kos against one defeat and draw
india faces sugar pulses shortage minister
new delhi jan afp
india trade minister acknowledged monday the country faced shortfall of
sugar and pulses staple food product for most indians after the country
weakest monsoon in four decades
there is shortage of pulses and sugar anand sharma said at banking summit
in new delhi adding that he hoped price pressures would ease with stronger
winter crop
the weak monsoon pushed up food prices by percent in putting home
budgets under strain
sugar prices have almost doubled since january last year and are still rising
because of production shortfall according to government data reported by the
press trust of india pti news agency
potato prices rose percent in january year on year followed by pulses which
jumped up percent while vegetables were costlier by more than percent
in the period
the government under pressure to help mitigate the impact of rising prices has
stressed that no one will go hungry due to emergency stocks and imports
pti reported last week that new delhi had imported million tonnes of sugar
since october and said contracted amount of million tonnes of the
commodity was yet to arrive
quoting an unnamed government official dow jones newswires said india was
planning to import an additional million tonnes of sugar by september
to meet deficit
india had initially said it would have to import rice for the first time since
the but has since cancelled three tenders
sharma said again monday that the country would not import rice or wheat
in september india weather office announced that the country suffered its
worst drought since with rains percent below average at the end of the
country four month monsoon season
dow jones newswires contributed to this report
strike blocks shipping at two french ports
marseille france jan afp
dockers strike disrupted freight shipping on monday at france two biggest
ports marseille and le havre authorities said
the marseille port authority gpmm said ships were affected in the harbours of
the southern city and nearby fos sur mer with dockers refusing to unload
containers of merchandise coal minerals and cereals
in the northwestern channel port of le havre france second biggest after
marseille the gpmh authority said container handling activities were shut down
passenger ferries to britain and petrol shipping were unaffected in both ports
however
the hour strike was called by the powerful cgt union to protest reforms to
the freight handling market which include the privatisation of some operations
saudi arabia carries out first execution of
riyadh jan afp
saudi taxi driver convicted of series of rapes was put to death by the sword
on monday in the country first execution of the interior ministry
announced
salah al jihni was decapitated in medina after being sentenced for taking four
female passengers into the desert where he raped robbed and abandoned them the
official spa news agency quoted ministry statement as saying
the kingdom first execution of followed year in which people were
executed decline from in and high of in
under the strict version of islamic sharia law enforced in saudi arabia the
death penalty can be imposed for rape murder apostasy armed robbery and drug
trafficking
eu presidency us eu must forge closer relationship
madrid jan afp
the united states and the european union must forge new and stronger
relationship to cope with fast changing world the spanish eu presidency said
monday
transatlantic relations are going to need strategic change in vision and in
ambition spanish foreign minister miguel angel moratinos said
the united states must take strategic perspective with regard to their
closest allies who are european he told news conference
the two great western blocs must manage to respond to changing world said
moratinos whose country holds the six month rotating presidency of the european
union
it is not normal that there is only he said
the concept of involving the united states and china was first floated some
four years ago as way to better reflect geopolitical realities amid beijing
growing power and influence
the idea which would see the european union global influence diminish again
attracted interest following the meeting in april in london where us
president barack obama and china hu jintao launched an annual strategic
dialogue and agreed to strengthen ties at all levels
but the fraught climate change talks in copenhagen last month highlighted that
washington and beijing remain far apart on number of issues
moratinos said eu us summit in madrid on may would be chance to forge
new relationship of trust complicity complementarity on the themes of
security economy trade transport and development cooperation
spanish media has said spanish prime minister jose luis rodriguez zapatero is
planning trip to washington prior to the summit
three us soldiers killed in afghan unrest nato
kabul jan afp
three us soldiers were killed on monday while fighting insurgents in volatile
southern afghanistan nato said
nato international security assistance force gave few details saying only
three isaf service members from the united states were killed this afternoon in
an engagement with enemy forces in southern afghanistan
southern afghanistan is at the heart of taliban led insurgency now in its
ninth year
the latest deaths take to the number of foreign soldiers killed in
afghanistan this year according to an afp tally based on that kept by the
independent website icasualties org
last year was the deadliest since the insurgency began with foreign
soldiers dying in afghanistan compared to in
of the casualties were us nationals while the rest were from more than
other nations in the coalition fighting the taliban under us and nato
command
the united states and its allies invaded afghanistan in late to capture al
qaeda leaders whom washington said were responsible for the attacks on us
cities and taliban commanders who sheltered the islamist network
the insurgency launched by remnants of the taliban regime months after their
ouster has gained pace and the united states and nato are set to deploy
another troops during this year on top of the current
the insurgency is largely concentrated in southern and eastern afghanistan but
is expanding to the previously calm north and west of the country
kuwait bourse closed after bomb threat
kuwait city jan afp
the kuwait stock exchange building was closed and evacuated on monday after
officials received bomb threat from an anonymous caller security source
told afp
the call came about minutes after the day trading ended in the multi storey
building in downtown kuwait city which also houses number of commercial
offices
after receiving the call we evacuated the building and bomb squads began
searching part of the building has already been searched and nothing was
found the source said
anonymous calls threatening bomb attacks are common in the oil rich gulf state
and almost all such scares turn out to be hoaxes
cricket bangladesh india one day scoreboard
dhaka jan afp
scoreboard after bangladesh innings against india in the triangular one day
series here on monday
bangladesh
tamim iqbal tyagi nehra
imrul kayes kohli tyagi
mohammad ashraful sreesanth
raqibul hasan run out
shakib al hasan dhoni nehra
mushfiqur rahim raina yuvraj
mohammad mahmudullah not out
naeem islam not out
extras lb nb
total for six wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes ashraful iqbal raqibul
rahim shakib
bowling tyagi sreesanth nb nehra mishra
yuvraj jadeja
toss india
umpires simon taufel aus and sharfuddoula shahid ban
tv umpire enamul haque ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
rusal says hong kong ipo restriction no problem
hong kong jan afp
uc rusal executives said monday they are not concerned about restrictions that
limit the aluminium giant upcoming hong kong share sale to institutions and
so called professional investors
the city market watchdog the securities and futures commission slapped
condition on the billion us dollar sale that requires minimum investment
of one million hong kong dollars us dollars
the rare stipulation was reportedly aimed at discouraging smaller investors from
debt laden rusal complicated offering later this month
but the condition is largely irrelevant said artem volynets rusal deputy
chief executive of strategy and business development
our primary sources of capital are the investment funds who understand our
industry well he told press conference in hong kong
we don see any potential downside in demand
the world largest aluminium producer has said it secured four key investors
for the share sale malaysian chinese tycoon robert kuok new york hedge fund
paulson amp co european banking family scion nathaniel rothschild and
russian state development bank vneshekonombank or veb
the group investment will account for percent of the offering volynets
said monday
rusal has renegotiated its crushing billion us dollar debt with creditors
key concern for hong kong regulators on favourable terms volynets said
we are very confident that we ll reach our debt reduction target he said
metal prices are on the rise amid stronger demand in the company key transport
and construction markets he added
volynets said it was inconceivable that the industry would see repeat of the
global economic crisis which pounded metal prices
the executive also dismissed suggestions that rusal and chief executive oleg
deripaska who has been dogged by unproven allegations he is linked to
organised crime shopped around for an exchange that would allow it to list
metal hungry chinese market was the key driver he added
the reason for us to be in hong kong is primarily strategic we want to become
household name for chinese customers
rusal shares will be priced on january with trading expected to begin on
january
oil prices jump above dollars
london jan afp
the price of oil struck month high close to dollars monday in the wake
of positive chinese energy data and as cold snap raised demand for heating
fuel analysts said
new york main futures contract light sweet crude for february delivery
struck an intra day peak of dollars barrel
that was the highest point since october date that preceded collapse
in prices caused by the global financial crisis
after its multi month high new york crude settled back to stand at
dollars barrel rise of dollars compared with friday closing level
elsewhere brent north sea crude for february delivery advanced cents to
dollars in morning london deals
dnbnor markets analyst torbjorn kjus said chinese oil imports data was boosting
prices
the december data were extremely strong and is pushing oil prices upwards
he said
yesterday strong imports figures are suggesting demand is only moving
upwards gross crude oil imports rose massive million barrels day from
november to december and was an incredible million barrels day higher than
december added kjus
crude futures meanwhile won support monday also from freezing weather across the
northern hemisphere
prolonged cold snap is going to chew up some of those very high inventories
of heating oil said argus media oil analyst jason feer
europeans struggled to get to work on monday after weekend of treacherous
winter weather left thousands of homes without power and caused mayhem on roads
railways and at airports
villages in parts of north east germany which was almost completely paralysed
over the weekend were still cut off from the outside world as snowdrifts
whipped up by gale force winds made roads and railways unpassable
spain and portugal meanwhile were the latest to feel the full force of what
experts said was an unusually harsh winter with the southern spanish city of
seville under snow on sunday for the first time in half century
oil prices had closed mixed on friday with the new york futures contract lifted
by weaker dollar after news that the us economy lost more jobs than expected
last month
the world biggest economy lost jobs in december while the unemployment
rate held unchanged at percent the us labor department said friday in
report highlighting slow and painful recovery from recession
the report on nonfarm payrolls was disappointment to those hoping for growth
in jobs which is critical to recovery from recession
december figure was far worse than the consensus expectation for no change in
overall employment levels and came amid wide array of predictions ranging from
steep losses to modest gains
european stocks rally london hits month high
london jan afp
european stock markets rallied monday with london hitting the highest level
since september when the collapse of us investment bank lehman brothers
signalled the start of the economic crisis
london benchmark ftse index of leading shares hit points in early
trading the highest level for months in the wake of robust chinese
economic data analysts said
after its brief jump above the ftse settled back to stand at
points in late morning deals rise of percent compared with friday
closing level
approaching the half way mark elsewhere in europe frankfurt dax climbed
percent to points and in paris the cac gained percent to
the dj euro stoxx index of top eurozone shares increased by percent in
value to reach points
global markets on monday digested weekend data revealing that china had
overtaken germany as the world biggest exporter
the numbers from china showed huge boost both in exports and imports and the
immediate effect has been to push virtually every index to new highs said
simon denham head of capital spreads trading group
china exports surged percent in december to snap month falling
streak the government said on sunday cementing the asian power new status as
the world biggest exporter
exports hit billion dollars during the month as global trade perked up
bringing china full year export figure to trillion dollars according to
figures from the general administration of customs
data out of germany last week showed that china overtook europe biggest
economy in november to become the world top exporting nation
excitement out of the far east as china economic numbers give rise to hopes
that the us effect which has dominated the last years might be
replaced augmented by the dominance of the asiatic regions said denham
for most of my working life the phrase that when america sneezes the rest of
the world catches cold has been truism in relation to growth prospects
while china has many years to go before gaining such hegemony over the world
economy it is actually comforting to know that there is another powerhouse
waiting in the wings to join the us in driving global wealth forward added the
analyst
the london stock market meanwhile extended rally stretching back since march
when the ftse struck six year low at around the points mark
the index has jumped by percent since the march lows and rose by percent
in as whole
arifa sheikh usmani an equity trader at spreadex said share prices were
winning support on monday also from rally on wall street last friday despite
weak us jobs data
with no other significant data out today the market may well be expected to
hold these levels by monday close she added
suzuki volkswagen alliance won impact in north america vp
detroit michigan jan afp
the new alliance between suzuki and volkswagen ag won have much impact in
north america
it mostly about india and technology we ll eventually see some of the
technology here but not for awhile said gene brown vice president of sales
for american suzuki motor corp who noted its becoming increasing expensive for
any company to develop new engines
cooperation between suzuki and volkswagen in north america is very limited he
added
brown however expects suzuki sales to rebound this years after falling for the
first time in several years in
we re not predicting any big gains but flat has become the new up he said
one thing that should help suzuki is the improvement in gmac financial
position
gmac has provided financing to suzuki dealers over the years as part of the now
defunct general motors suzuki alliance
gmac is now independent of gm and has strengthened it overall position giving
suzuki hope that it might be able to start leasing some vehicles again
they had stopped leasing brown said
citigroup on right path says key saudi shareholder
riyadh jan afp
us banking giant citigroup is past the worst of the us financial crisis and is
on the right path saudi tycoon and key citi shareholder prince alwaleed bin
talal said on monday
it is very clear that the worst for citi is over alwaleed said in news
conference for his kingdom holdings citi is on the right path right now
last week alwaleed one of citigroup largest shareholders announced that he
would transfer million of his personal shares in citigroup into his closely
controlled kingdom investment group at no cost
the move is aimed at shoring up kingdom balance sheet to enable it to borrow
and embark on new investments he said
the prince one of the world richest men with fortune variously estimated at
between and billion dollars personally controls percent of kingdom
holdings which also holds numerous investments in property and major
international companies such as news corp apple and pepsi
french rocker questioned after ex wife commits suicide
bordeaux france jan afp
french rocker and convicted killer bertrand cantat has been quizzed by police
after his ex wife was found hanged at her home in an apparent suicide officials
said monday
noir desir frontman cantat was convicted of beating his actress girlfriend marie
trintignant to death in vilnius hotel in lithuanian court jailed him
for eight years and he was released on parole in
officials said cantat was asleep at the bordeaux southwest france home of
kristina rady when she hung herself on sunday
the couple two children year old boy and seven year old girl were not
present at the house when rady committed suicide but one of them made the
chilling discovery when returning home around midday sunday officials said
the year old singer was questioned by police in bordeaux late sunday but no
action was taken against him pathologists were to perform an autopsy on monday
according to initial findings confirmed by some technical data the death was
due to suicide by hanging said source close to the investigation
cantat has been free on parole since october
known for his edgy music and dark lyrics cantat had married rady of hungarian
origin in but they had separated soon after their daughter birth when
he met trintignant
rady was writer and theatre actress who had translated works into hungarian
including marjane satrapi award winning animated works persepolis
she had spoken out in defence of her ex husband during his trial in lithuania
saying he had never been violent with her during their marriage
boxing poonsawat defends wba super bantam title
tokyo jan afp
thailand poonsawat kratingdaeng successfully defended his world boxing
association wba super bantamweight title on monday defeating japan satoshi
hosono
two us judges scored the bout and while the south korean judge
counted it for the defending champion giving him decision
proud that defended the title in foreign country he hosono is big
fighter so satisfied with decision victory said poonsawat
if the wbc world boxing council bantamweight champion hozumi hasegawa wants
to challenge me ready to fight against him he added
the year old thai boxer who took the title in september last year stretched
his record to wins including kos against one defeat
for the year old hosono ranked th in the wba it was his first defeat in
his professional career after winning his first bouts including kos
it was shock for me that couldn beat the champion couldn hit him
because of his excellent technique going to work harder and get stronger
said hosono
football ronaldo sale boosts man utd earnings
london jan afp
english giants manchester united on monday reported pre tax profits of
million pouns euros for the year to june
the figure includes the world record pounds euros fee they pocketed
for the sale of star forward cristiano ronaldo to real madrid and also
pounds paid out in interest on mammoth loan of pounds
turnover was also up from pounds in to pounds year later
the figures were released on morning when united officially confirmed their
intention to raise million pounds through bonds in order to refinance their
debts
without the world record sale of ronaldo the reigning english premier league
champions would have been reporting loss of million pounds situation
that clearly is unsustainable over the long term hence the bonds issue
manchester united today announced that it will be seeking to raise
approximately million pounds aggregate principal amount from an offering of
senior secured notes due said united statement
the notes whose proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt secured
against the club will be issued by mu finance plc
china malaysia to pump billions into borneo power project
kuala lumpur jan afp
china leading power grid operator sgcc and malaysian development fund mdb
said monday they will establish massive energy projects worth billion dollars
in malaysian borneo
prime minister najib razak unveiled the joint venture between government
development and investment firm malaysia development berhad mdb and sgcc
state grid corporation of china
in short period of time mdb and sgcc which is china leading power and
distribution company will be collaborating to identify and plan number of
multi billion dollar projects najib said in speech
understand this project will have total value of billion dollars
najib did not give details of the projects but malaysian officials said they
will focus on the energy sector
the star newspaper has reported that mdb and sgcc will establish hydropower
plants and massive aluminium smelter in sarawak state on resource rich borneo
an island split between malaysia and indonesia
meenakshi raman from friends of the earth malaysia said the group was very
concerned about this huge investment and called on the government to clarify
its development plans for sarawak
our concern is that these companies will be going into dirty industries like
aluminium smelters and dams and coal power plants which will only degrade the
environment further in sarawak she said
plans for up to dozen vast hydro electric dams in sarawak have raised alarm
among indigenous groups and environmentalists who have spent decades campaigning
against rampant logging and plantation activity
the billion dollar bakun dam which will drown an area the size of
singapore is nearing completion despite setbacks and delays since its approval
in and fierce criticism over its environmental impact
transparency international has labelled bakun monument of corruption and
highlighted debate over whether there will be enough customers in when it
becomes fully operational with mw capacity
the dam forced thousands of indigenous people off their ancestral lands and
there are now concerns over the fate of the tribal communities living in the
catchment area of the next of the planned mega dams the murum dam
we also question the need for more power generation facilities when the bakun
dam and others like the murum are already expected to produce more than enough
capacity raman said
foreign investment in malaysia plummeted in as result of the global
financial crisis the newly created mdb is aimed at forming global partnerships
to drive long term economic development
last september mdb and saudi arabia said they would establish billion
dollar partnership to invest in oil and gas and real estate projects in malaysia
and abroad
najib said the sarawak investment proposal was developed when he visited china
in june
this interest was crystallised when the chinese president hu jintao visited
malaysia in november last year he added
sgcc president liu zhenya said the firm plans were part of boom in trade and
energy sector cooperation between the two countries in recent years
the chinese government is very supportive of chinese enterprises involvement
in the infrastructure projects in malaysia in more extensive way he said
no plan to send troops to yemen obama says
washington jan afp
president barack obama says he has no intention of sending us troops to fight
militants in yemen and somalia despite growing concern over the presence of
militant cells there
obama made fresh push for international cooperation to confront militants in
yemen where the top us military officer admiral michael mullen said sending
troops was not possibility
never rule out any possibility in world that is this complex in
countries like yemen in countries like somalia think working with
international partners is most effective at this point obama said in people
interview to be published friday the magazine released transcript sunday
have no intention of sending us boots on the ground in these regions
he insisted the lawless tribal belt straddling the afghanistan pakistan border
remains the epicenter of al qaeda but acknowledged yemen based affiliate of
osama bin laden network has become more serious problem
the impoverished country long standing scourge of extremism was thrown into
the spotlight after the al qaeda branch claimed responsibility for narrowly
averted christmas day bombing aboard us bound airliner
recent strikes on al qaeda positions in yemen including cruise missile attacks
were reportedly led by the united states which has vowed to boost its economic
and military aid to sanaa london and washington have already announced plans to
fund counter extremism police in the country
mullen the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff acknowledged in cnn
interview that the united states was providing some support to yemen efforts
to strike al qaeda militants but insisted sanaa led the operations
yemen has been hostile to any suggestion of us military intervention but
analysts fear bin laden ancestral homeland cannot tackle the militants on its
own and us officials have said they are seeking to boost military and
intelligence cooperation with yemen
general david petraeus the head of us central command which oversees region
encompassing the middle east the gulf the horn of africa and central asia
welcomed yemen desire to tackle extremists on its own
we would always want host nation to deal with problem itself we want to
help we re providing assistance he told cnn after returning from trip to
yemen during which he held talks with president ali abdullah saleh
petraeus said washington planned to more than double its economic aid to yemen
this year to million dollars or more up from million last year but us
officials have insisted the total aid amount has not yet been determined
though the figure pales in comparison to the billions of dollars washington has
poured into afghanistan the general stressed other allies were providing aid
including saudi arabia which has reportedly allocated two billion dollars and
the united arab emirates which pledged million dollars to sanaa
washington has urged yemen to crack down on al qaeda but sanaa already faces
litany of challenges including shiite rebellion in the north movement for
autonomy in the south an economic crisis aggravated by dwindling oil reserves
and water shortage
and president saleh said in remarks broadcast sunday that he is open to
dialogue with militants
if al qaeda lay down their arms renounce violence and terrorism and return to
wisdom we are prepared to deal with them saleh told abu dhabi tv
but saleh whose country is also facing shiite rebellion in the north and
movement for autonomy in the south stressed the government will crack down
heavily on those who resort to violence
